Barcelona appear to have won the battle to sign Ilkay Gundogan, after protracted negotiations saw Director of Football Mateu Alemany travel to Munich on Wednesday.
According to multiple reports, Gundogan has agreed to a deal that sees Barcelona add the captain of Champions League winners Manchester City.
The 32-year-old will sign a two-year deal with an option for a further season too, as per Sport. Toni Juanmarti says that the third season will depend on the number of games Gundogan plays, which must hit a minimum of 60% of Barcelona’s fixtures, although it is not yet clear whether that figure applies to both seasons or just the second.
ℹ️ El tercer año de Gündogan va supeditado a la participación del alemán (habitual, ya se ha hecho en algún fichaje reciente el mínimo de 60%).
— Toni Juanmartí (@tjuanmarti) June 21, 2023
In the lead up to the signing, it was claimed that Gundogan was concerned by the ability of Barcelona to be able to register his contract. In spite of Barcelona’s assurances, the German wanted contractual guarantees.
Gundogan did not want to deal with a similar situation to that of Jules Kounde last season, where the French defender went unregistered for the first two La Liga games of the season. As such, if he remains unregistered by the time of Barcelona’s first game, he will be allowed to walk for free and break the contract.
🚨 By contract, Barça have until the first league game, August 12, to register Gündogan. Otherwise, he would be eligible to leave on a free. @tjuanmarti
— barcacentre (@barcacentre) June 21, 2023
That should certainly motivate the Blaugrana to ensure they have their business done by that point. Their first match is scheduled for the weekend of the 12th of August, with the La Liga fixture draw scheduled for Thursday.
