Manchester City midfielder Ilkay Gundogan has been reflecting on a difficult season as he prepares for the Club World Cup and next year
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11:03, 28 May 2025
Manchester City midfielder Ilkay Gundogan
Manchester City midfielder Ilkay Gundogan
Ilkay Gundogan says that Manchester 'still feels like home' to him and his family as he waits for confirmation that he will remain at Manchester City next season. The German midfielder's comeback to the club did not go as planned as the team form fell away but he did enough personally to trigger a contract extension until 2026.
Gundogan expects to stay, and nobody at the club has told him otherwise ahead of the summer transfer window. Guardiola reiterated on the final day of the season at Fulham that players under contract want to stay at the club, although he had previously raised doubts over whether the 34-year-old would remain.
Having spent seven years at the club before leaving for Barcelona in 2023, Gundogan returned to City in August with his wife and young family. Only six players were used more than him by Guardiola as his fitness held up amid an injury crisis, and he believes he can play for as many as four years to come.
As well as feeling happy in Manchester, Gundogan has also seen positive change at City after an horrendous run in the middle of the season. The Blues lost 15 out of 30 games in all competitions between November and March but rallied to clinch Champions League qualification.
There were sleepless nights from Gundogan as he wrestled with what was going wrong at the club, followed by more calm as the team form picked back up again. As a result, he is feeling confident about next season.
"I’m taking negative results into bed, barely sleeping, thinking over and over about what I and we as a team could have done better during the game," he wrote on LinkedIn. "I am not just an overthinker, I am also someone that is always thinking about self-improvement.
"Did I do everything every single day to become the best possible version of myself? I know a lot of people that always advise to stay positive no matter how difficult the circumstances are. But I am not so sure if that works out for me.
"Of course that’s the ultimate target to be generally in a positive state. But weaknesses and insecurities are human. And if I look back at my career, this kind of mentality brought me where I am. And that is a place where I am very happy and satisfied with.
"I still feel more than connected to City. It still feels like family, we still are a family in the dressing room, Manchester feels like home – this is not a phrase, it’s coming from my heart. For me, my wife and my kids.
"For me City is the most professional football club in Europe. That is why, on the one hand, I’m still asking myself so often how we got into this difficult situation this season.
"On the other hand, however, this still gives me confidence that sooner or later we will be back at the very best level, because I know how hard everyone is working – not just our manager, not just my teammates – everyone at this club. And during the last months we already showed that we are back on the right track."
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Meanwhile, Gundogan has been honoured back in his homeland with the Mevlüde Genç Medal of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The award has been granted for the player's 'outstanding contributions to social cohesion' bringing people together to overcome their differences through football.
Hendrik Wüst, prime-minister of the region where Gundogan hails from, said: "İlkay Gündoğan is more than a football star. As the first player with a migrant background, he has become captain of our national team – a role model for many young people, far beyond the sport.
"In addition to his outstanding achievements on the football field, İlkay Gündoğan has been committed to peaceful coexistence in Germany for many years. He raises his voice against hatred, exclusion, and racism – and in doing so sends a powerful message to a society that is constantly being put to the test.
"His advocacy for peaceful coexistence in a diverse society is invaluable, especially today, in times when populists are deliberately playing people off against each other and trying to drive a wedge into the middle of our society."