Gundogan undecided on Man City future amid Barcelona links

MUNICH — Ilkay Gundogan said contract talks are ongoing with Manchester City, but he is not yet close to announcing where he will play next season.

The Germany midfielder’s contract is up in June and he has been in negotiations with both City and Barcelona, according to ESPN sources. Barcelona’s interest is reliant on them reducing their wage, bill but the club remain interested in the 32-year-old midfielder.

Gundogan has been at City since 2016 and has been an instrumental figure in their remarkable story of success under Pep Guardiola. But this could yet be his final season in Manchester with Gundogan admitting on Tuesday that he is still holding talks over where he plays next term.

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“There are talks, there are talks in the background,” Gundogan said. “That’s normal with a couple of months left. There’s nothing decided yet, not from my side, not from the club’s side — the talks, they continue. If there’s a decision at one point then you guys [in the media] will be the first ones to know.”

Gundogan’s immediate focus when he spoke Tuesday was on ensuring City book their place in the Champions League semifinals. They face Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena on Wednesday night and hold a 3-0 advantage from the first leg last week.

He has previously played under Bayern coach Thomas Tuchel during his time at Borussia Dortmund and he knows full well the task facing them despite their advantage.

“You don’t think about complacency because it’s not done,” Gundogan said. “We are playing away now. We want the ball and to keep it. You need personality, their fans will be behind hem more than ever and it’s about us to not allow them to get momentum and get the first goal. We need to play our style of football, get momentum and try to be very efficient.

It’s a key week for City. After Bayern on Wednesday, they face Sheffield United in the FA Cup semifinal on Saturday and host Premier League-leaders Arsenal on April 26.

“We have been six or seven years at the top of the competitions, and still we are there,” Guardiola said. “We are in three different comps so tomorrow, FA Cup, and against Arsenal, if we win we are still alive, if we lose, we are almost done.

“It’s nice to be in the position of being there. We’ve been in the position many, many years so we’re reaching a level that’s quite interesting for us. I don’t have any doubts the players want it. With their desire, I know they want it. I guess Bayern do too.”

City are yet to win the Champions League under Guardiola, but did reach the final in 2021 only to fall to Tuchel’s Chelsea 1-0. Guardiola has told his team to forget previous moments where they’ve fallen short and focus purely on Wednesday’s match as a one-off test.

“We are here in Munich against one of the most historical sides in the Champions League. We are playing one football game, not to defend something,” Guardiola said.

“It’s 11 vs. 11 and try to be better than [our] opponent in this specific game. We can’t think about the past — that’d be a big mistake for us — so we just prepare for this game.”

Tuchel has talked of Bayern needing a “miracle” to turn the tie on its head, but Guardiola, who managed the Bavarians from 2013 to 2016, expects the Bundesliga champions to truly believe they can overturn the deficit.

“I have been here at Bayern Munich and I know the mentality of the club — it’s in the skin,” Guardiola said. “I know they believe they can do it, we believe too. When you are in these types of clubs, we try to build this feeling that whatever happens we can do it. It is what it is.”