Back to old strength
© Imago
İlkay Gündoğan’s contract with Manchester City has automatically extended by option by one year by June 30, 2026. This was confirmed by Pep Guardiola after the 5-2 against Crystal Palace on Sunday evening. “He definitely has another year. I don’t know what will happen (in the summer; editor), but at the moment he has another year,” said the 54-year-old, who overwhelmed the former DFB captain with praising words.
“The Gündo of Leicester, the Gündo of Bournemouth, the Gündo of today is the Gündo, which I remember when we had the triple and the quadruple, and who was an important player,” Guardiola explained the importance of Gündoğan in the past few weeks. The midfield droutiner, to which the coach has been maintaining a very close relationship for years, had returned to Man City at FC Barcelona last summer after a year after a year. There are two goals and four templates in 42 missions, and against Crystal Palace he initiated the equalizer by Omar Marmoush.
Gündoğan needed something to get back to Man City. Now “his activity, his pace, his defensive intelligence” are completely back, enthused Guardiola. “Gündo was extremely important to us.” The fact that the settlement took longer can also be attributed to the poor form of Skyblues over long distances. “As a team, we couldn’t help him because it is not about you, you, you. Everyone was down, under their level, because the team did not play well overall.”
In the meantime, the Guardiola team has caught up. In the Premier League, the Citizens are in the middle of the fight for the Champions League places, in the FA Cup the team still has the chance of a title. There is waiting in the Nottingham Forest semi -finals (April 27, 5:30 p.m.). “If the team plays well, the individual gets better. Without that, you can’t make it in modern football,” Guardiola emphasized the changed emotional situation. The Gündoğan, strengthened again, should – without having to worry about the future – to ensure a conciliatory outcome of the season.