FC Barcelona have a 'yes' from a Manchester City player who should join them in the summer.
FC Barcelona have a 'yes' from one of the leading stars in Manchester City's run to the Champions League final, who will still join them this summer according to AS and SPORT, amid reports from England that he will extend at the Etihad.
Ilkay Gundogan is City's captain but becomes a free agent on June 30. Since the turn of 2023, it has been taken for granted that the German international will take on a new challenge in Catalonia, with SPORT reporting in April that he had already agreed to join Xavi Hernandez's blossoming sporting project.
With the dust settling on City's 4-0 thrashing of Real Madrid on Wednesday, however, which guaranteed a 5-1 aggregate win in the Champions League semi-finals and passage to the last dance in Istanbul against Inter Milan next June, The Times reported that Gundogan was "edging towards committing his future" to City and penning a long-term deal.
In Spain, however, AS' Barca correspondent Javi Miguel, who is close to the environment of head coach Xavi Hernandez, tweeted on Sunday that the Blaugrana are "very calm" about the situation with Gundogan.
"Xavi has the player's 'YES'. Three seasons and a transcendental role in the team," Miguel added.
At SPORT, they transmit a similar message that trust in Gundogan's word after striking a "verbal agreement for three years with a reduction of his current salary".
City are believed to currently pay Gundogan €10 million ($10.8 million) and have offered him the chance to earn the same fee for the next two years according to The Times.
Though Barca can't offer the 32-year-old the same amount, they can provide him a platform to play in the elite for at least three seasons and a new challenge where he could add silverware to his resume in a different country.
If Barca's were by some chance to run into extra cash, they would like to also land Gundogan's midfielder partner Bernardo Silva.
As the Portuguese doesn't become a free agent until 2025, though, Barca would have to hand over a fee ranging between €80-100 million ($86-108 million) to bring him to La Liga.