Ilkay Gundogan’s Manchester City return is a no-brainer

It is unanimous: bring him home.

As soon as news filtered through from Barcelona at the weekend that Ilkay Gundogan’s time at the club seemed over, Manchester City fans were excited by the prospect of bringing him back to the club.

And it turns out that they were not the only ones: so were the actual decision-makers at the Etihad Stadium. Pep Guardiola is happy for a return. And so is Gundogan.

Whether it happens or not depends on a few factors, and dealing with Barcelona never seems to be easy. Even when — as in this case — they want to let a player go.

Normally in these situations, one might be concerned about why a big club wants to let a seemingly top player leave although, Barca being Barca, you can put that down to their inconsistencies rather than Gundogan’s.

Having only arrived last summer, Gundogan had an impressive first season at Camp Nou. But Barca have brought in Dani Olmo for €60million ($76m; £51.3m) to play in the same position — although he has not yet been registered.

Gundogan could even leave Barca for free due to the complicated situation he finds himself in, although only last week there was a reminder of a similar situation regarding Barca and City.

Marti Perarnau’s latest Pep Guardiola biography, The Pep Revolution: Inside Guardiola’s Manchester City, was published in English and reminded us that Lionel Messi thought he was joining City in 2020, only for Barca’s red tape to get in the way.

So it is not done yet by any means, but the intention is there from all sides: City to bring him back, Gundogan to return, Barca to let him go. So the potential move ticks all the boxes for City and Gundogan.

The only cause for concern is that if City were wary about offering him a two-year deal last year, then we are now into what would have been that second season.

Gundogan turns 34 in October. Will the legs be able to keep up with the mind, especially if he plays in that all-action Rodri role? In this case, it feels disingenuous to refer to it as the ‘Rodri role’ given Gundogan was playing there with distinction while the Spaniard was still at Villarreal. But his advancing years do change the dynamic slightly.

But Gundogan has just announced his retirement from international duty, which should help. And then there is City’s transfer policy.

Between now and the end of the window, City are aiming to bring in two players: a holding midfielder and a striker, but the idea is not to spend big money nor sign a player with lofty expectations around playing time.

City believe they have the maximum number of top-level players with pretensions to play every week, and Guardiola does not want to add any more into the equation lest one or more of them become unhappy with a lack of opportunities and go on to destabilise the mood.

At the same time, they realise they need to bring in support for Rodri and Erling Haaland, so they have been scouring the market for players who are good enough to contribute but not expect to play every week, in both positions. And, at the same time, they must be cheap enough for City’s budget.

“We would not have won, having (signed) important players (to be backup to) Erling Haaland and Rodri, spending a lot of money for them to play two out of 10 games,” Guardiola said recently. “It’s not sustainable, so we have to have a balance. If we need someone, the price we have to buy (has to be right). Otherwise, it makes no sense.”

They have identified a handful of candidates who they believe could help them up front and, out of nowhere, the possibility of re-signing Gundogan has emerged, providing them with a fairly obvious solution to the midfield search — especially as he largely played deep for Barca last season, as highlighted below.

Any new signings would essentially be considered the 17th or 18th player in the squad, to step in for Rodri (or Haaland) when needed or come on in the final 20-30 minutes to help City manage matches, whatever the result.

That may be something that now appeals to Gundogan — not necessarily because of his age, but because he now finds himself in a difficult situation at Barca. Do not forget, this was supposed to be his way of finishing his career on a high, at a top club, providing a new experience in a much warmer climate than Manchester. But there were even murmurings back in the spring that he had come to realise that this move was not going to work out.

A possible return to City, where he can reunite with Guardiola and continue to play at the very highest level, might be the ideal way to end his career, even if it means less playing time.

There is not just Rodri to consider in that City equation, but Mateo Kovacic as well. That is why City are trying to achieve the difficult task of adding a quality player to their squad without upsetting the squad dynamic. Kovacic has earned himself a place in the midfield hierarchy and could reasonably expect to start plenty of games this season, whether next to Rodri or in place of him.

Kovacic scored against Chelsea yesterday and could play a bigger role this season (Adrian Dennis/AFP via Getty Images)

So it may be that Gundogan does not play anywhere near as much as he did in his final season, especially with Kevin De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva and Phil Foden in contention in the more advanced midfield slots. But as long as he is aware of that — and the suggestion is that he is — then it is a move that makes sense for all parties.

Supporters would love it. As with Rodri, Gundogan was not only a key player in terms of his work in midfield but a scorer of crucial goals, including two in the FA Cup final against Manchester United on the way to delivering the treble, and two on the final day of the previous season to turn around a 2-0 final day deficit against Aston Villa and win the title.

While the adage says to ‘never go back’ — and Gundogan certainly had his fairytale ending at the club by captaining City to the treble — it would certainly be difficult (although not impossible) to top that. But it would be pretty hard to diminish it, too.

City have been considering all sorts of factors in their search for new players, including their targets’ level of English, and Guardiola has been praising the “incredible human beings” in his dressing room of late, showing just how happy he is with his squad. The way they can essentially self-regulate any issues particularly pleases the manager.

There would be no doubts about how Gundogan would fit into that environment. Before he left, he was captain — and a very popular one at that. He might even find himself in the leadership group again, given City’s players usually vote on that once the transfer window closes.

The move itself has some way to go before being confirmed, but one thing is for sure: it is a no-brainer.

(Top photo: Michael Steele/Getty Images)