Ilkay Gundogan has written an emotional farewell letter to Manchester City after his transfer to Barcelona was unveiled today.
The German midfielder, who captained the Citizens to their first Champions League title earlier this month, lauded his manager Pep Guardiola for understanding his decision not to pen a new deal.
He also also lumped praise on Jack Grealish, claiming the England forward has been ‘misunderstood my some in the media’.
After spending seven years at the English club, the German midfielder has gone on to win 12 major titles while returning 60 goals in 304 appearances for the Premier League champions.
With his contract set to expire on June 30, Gundogan will now depart on a free transfer and has penned a farewell letter entitled ‘Thank you, City’, in which he admits that he had ‘fulfilled every dream he ever had’ with the club.
Ilkay Gundogan has written an emotional message to Manchester City after he was unveiled as a Barcelona player earlier today
The German lauded his teammates and Pep Guardiola and admitted he was leaving on a high having clinched a historic Treble with Man City
After 7 years a wonderful time ends. You made me realize all my dreams. ¿¿ I will carry you forever in my heart. Once a blue, always a blue! Thank you @ManCity! ¿¿¿ pic.twitter.com/YLCrsJU0TG
— Ilkay Gündogan (@IlkayGuendogan) June 26, 2023
‘Today is bittersweet,’ he wrote in a blog post on The Players Tribune. ‘Goodbyes are never easy, but it’s even harder with this team. When I had to break the news to the boys that I was leaving in our group chat, I was very emotional. I will miss all of them, honestly. But I am happy to say that I’m leaving here as a champion, and I have nothing but love for the club in my heart.
‘It’s amazing what we achieved. Five Premier League titles in my seven years here. Two FA Cups. The Champions League. The treble. But those are just trophies. The thing that I will remember the most is the feeling inside the squad, especially this season. I’ve never experienced something like it in football.’
He’ll now join Barcelona after he was released by City earlier this month, and said on the transfer: ‘If I was going to move, there is only one club in the world that made sense.
‘It was Barcelona or nothing. Ever since I was a little kid, I dreamed of wearing that shirt some day.’
Gundogan admitted that he was ‘confident that he had a few more years left at the top level’, before saying he was excited to re-unite with his old friend Robert Lewandowski and play under Xavi.
But he also revealed how difficult it was to tell Guardiola that he had decided to leave City, admitting that he ‘always felt a close bond with the Spanish coach.
He wrote: ‘One of the hardest calls I had to make was to Pep, telling him that I was going to leave. All I could do was to say thank you.
‘Not just for this season, or for all the trophies, but for bringing me here in the first place. I will never forget when I hurt my knee at the end of the season with Dortmund and I had to get surgery, I was so worried that City would pull out of the deal for me.
‘But Pep called me on the phone and said, “Don’t worry, it doesn’t change anything. We want you here. We will wait for you no matter how long it takes.”‘
His comments come as the former Barcelona manager also admitted earlier this month that he ‘wished Gundogan would stay at City‘.
Despite that, the 32-year-old said in the letter that he was ‘hopeful’ the pair would re-unite at some point in the future.
Speaking on the City squad, the German also lauded his team-mate Jack Grealish as being ‘so humble and pure’ and gave an insight into the efforts the England forward has gone to this season to improve his game.
‘I just want to say that Jack Grealish is so misunderstood by some of the media. He is one of the nicest guys I’ve met in football,’ Gundogan said.
He lumped praise on his manager, Pep Guardiola (left) saying that he had to make one of the ‘toughest’ phone calls when he told the Spaniard he would be leaving the club
He also lauded his team-mate Jack Grealish (right) saying he was ‘misunderstood’ and is ‘so much fun to be around’
In seven years at the club, Gundogan has won 12 major trophies including five Premier League titles
‘He’s so much fun to be around and so humble and pure. I felt so happy for his success this season, because I know what it’s like to come to a big club for a lot of money, with all that pressure. He worked so hard to get to another level this season, and he was fantastic for us.’
He praised several other City players in the letter, claiming ‘he didn’t know what to expect when Erling Haaland arrived in Manchester’ but claimed he was ‘so surprised at how talented he was’ and was enamoured by the Norwegian’s relentless drive to improve.
‘With the characters we had in the dressing room, I just had so much confidence that we could win every time we walked onto the pitch,’ he added speaking on City’s playing cohort, who lost just five games this season in the Premier League.
‘When you really trust your teammates, you can play simply — without any fear, or without overthinking anything — and then magic just seems to happen. Maybe that’s why I was able to score so many key goals this season.’
He also said that he was ‘surprised’ at how talented Erling Haaland (right) was but was even more enamoured by his ‘drive to improve’
It will certainly also be a season to remember for Gundogan, who scored twice in the FA Cup final to help City lift the domestic trophy
He helped guide City to achieve a historic treble that saw them also claim the Premier League title for the third time in a row
He’ll now join Barcelona on a free transfer after signing a two-year deal that includes a £342million buy-out clause
In 51 appearances across all competitions, he returned an impressive 11 goals and seven assists from midfield, scoring a stunning brace in Man City’s FA Cup final triumph against rivals Manchester United.
Gundogan signed off the letter praising the fans and the backroom staff before saying ‘Yes, the football was sensational at times. But the people were even better.’
He’ll now move to Barcelona, signing a two-year deal that will keep him at the club until 2025, with an option to stay for an extra year. The Blaugarana have also set his buy-out clause at a whopping £342million (€400m).
The midfielder also wrote on Twitter: ‘After 7 years a wonderful time ends. You made me realize all my dreams.
‘I will carry you forever in my heart. Once a blue, always a blue! Thank you!.’
