Barcelona are reportedly closing in on an agreement with Manchester City midfielder Ilkay Gundogan after significantly improving their contract offer. The 32-year-old’s current deal with the Premier League champions expires at the end of the month, when he can leave on a free transfer, and both Barca and Arsenal are trying to sign him. According to Spanish newspaper Sport, the Catalan giants have now tabled a three-year contract offer worth around £7.7million per season – or £150,000-a-week – which is slightly less than what he could earn at City or even Arsenal, but that is offset by the fact it is a longer-term deal and will last him until he is 35.
Mikel Arteta is thought to be a big fan of the German and wants to bring his experience and know-how to the Emirates, while Xavi views him as the ideal replacement for Sergio Busquets. City do not want to lose their skipper, however, and recently upped their contract offer to a two-year deal at the request of Pep Guardiola, which Gundogan was thought to be close to accepting. But now Barca have put forward a fresh proposal that both City and Arsenal will struggle to compete with.
Gundogan has also received a late fourth offer from a club from Saudi Arabia, though his preference is to continue competing for silverware in Europe. The City skipper, who has been in excellent form in the run-in, netted twice against Manchester United in the FA Cup final on Saturday and was non-committal on his future afterwards. Asked if winning at Wembley made him want to stay at City, Gundogan told the BBC: ‘To be honest I don’t need these kind of days to feel appreciated and to feel special in this club. I know that, that’s why I am here already seven years, with all the ups and downs that I’ve had so far. And nothing is decided yet, so we’re going to see what’s going to happen.’
Barcelona are confident their three-year contract offer worth around £7.7million per season – or £150,000-a-week – will be enough to convince Gundogan to sign and will look to finalise the deal once the Champions League final is over. Arsenal and City have not given up, though neither will up their contract offers to three years which hands Barcelona a big advantage, while the Spanish side believe Gundogan wants to leave England and move to Catalonia.