Barcelona’s German midfielder Ilkay Gundogan has stated that he probably would have remained a Manchester City player by now had the Premier League champions started the contract renewal discussion earlier.

Gundogan moved to Barcelona in the summer on a free transfer, joining the Blaugrana on a three-year contract. The midfielder moved after helping Pep Guardiola and Manchester City to a treble win last season, and Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola stated that he wanted the player to stay as he was still crucial to his plan.

However, Gundogan has now revealed why that did not work out during the summer, stating that Manchester City waited too late before initiating the discussion while revealing his childhood dream of featuring for the Catalans.

“In the end, it wasn’t about a year or two. It didn’t hit the runtime. City waited a relatively long time for the talks to really get more intense. If that had happened a little earlier, the starting position would have been different. So, in the end, it was the perfect ending; there couldn’t have been a better time. It was also my childhood dream to play for FC Barcelona.” Gundogan said.

The German midfielder has started all four of Barcelona’s La Liga games this season, providing two assists in that period. Last season, Gundogan featured in over 40 games for Manchester City in all competitions, with 31 of them coming in the Premier League, providing eight goals and four assists as City beat Arsenal to the Premier League title.

He spent seven years at the club after joining from Borussia Dortmund and won everything available at the Premier League club.
The German international had explained in May that he was focused on the UEFA Champions League final fixture against Inter Milan than a contract extension and subsequently revealed that Manchester City took too long to initiate contract extension talks.