Barcelona midfielder’s transfer to Manchester City ‘imminent’, could leave for free | OneFootball

Things are moving quite rapidly with Ilkay Gundogan and his impending departure from FC Barcelona.

Over the weekend, Hansi Flick confirmed after the game against Valencia that he expected his compatriot to stay at the club.

However, the situation has unraveled over the past 24 hours, putting Gundogan on the cusp of an exit just a year after he joined the Blaugrana.

Return to Manchester City now imminent

As reported last night, Manchester City have been interested in re-signing Ilkay Gundogan, with manager Pep Guardiola being keen on working with the German again.

Now, RAC1 reports that Gundogan, in fact, is close to rejoining the Premier League champions with his return to the Etihad Stadium being described as ‘imminent’.

The report states that the 33-year-old midfielder has prioritised a move back to his former club as soon as it became clear that he would be leaving Barcelona.

Set for a reunion. (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)

Meanwhile, from England, Guardiola has already given the go-ahead to bring Gundogan back, which hardly comes as a surprise considering that the manager was disappointed to lose the midfielder last summer.

Free transfer on the cards?

As reported earlier today, Manchester City are willing to sign Gundogan, but only if he came on a free transfer, like he left the club last summer.

Now, as per journalist Adria Albets, the 33-year-old midfielder has assured Manchester City that Barcelona will let him leave for free.

It is claimed that the German ace called Guardiola personally a few days ago to see whether a return would be possible and received a positive response from the Man City boss, following which everything has accelerated.

During those conversations, Gundogan is said to have promised City that Barcelona would let him leave for free.

The Catalans’ main priority is to cut his salary from the wage-bill and free up space to register Dani Olmo and any other new signings. So, they might not be opposed to letting Gundogan leave without any transfer fee.