Man City star Gundogan finalises Barcelona agreement

Carlo Garganese

• 14 May 2023 15:35 BST
• 3 min read

Ilkay Gundogan has come to an agreement with Barcelona over the conditions of his contract.

That is according to Sport, which reports that the Man City midfielder is now very likely to join Barcelona a free transfer at the end of the season.

Gundogan’s contract expires next month and, while there is still a slim chance he could extend with City, a move to Barcelona is now very probable.

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Holding up the transfer until now was Gundogan’s salary demands.

But Sport reports that an agreement has been reached with Gundogan accepting a lower salary in exchange for a longer contract.

With Gundogan 32, this has satisfied the German in terms of his future earnings.

The ex-Borussia Dortmund star has been a key player at City since arriving in 2016. He was on fine form on Sunday again, scoring twice in the win over Everton - including a brilliant free-kick strike.

Gundogan will be a replacement for Barcelona legend Sergio Busquets, who will leave the club on a free transfer after 15 glittering seasons in the first team.

Busquets has won eight - soon to be nine - La Ligas and three Champions Leagues, as well as re-defining the role of a defensive midfielder.

Barcelona have utilised the free transfer market extensively in recent seasons, and will now do so again this summer.

Indeed they have snapped up a number of Man City stars on free transfers, including Sergio Aguero and Eric Garcia.

Both of these moves proved to be failures as Aguero was forced to retire months after arriving due to a heart condition. Garcia, meanwhile, has struggled to fulfill the potential many believed he had when emerging at CIty.