Ilkay Gündogan bids emotional and ‘bittersweet’ goodbye to Manchester City as he joins Barcelona
One of the Premier League's best players of the past few years, let alone just at Man City, made no secret of how difficult a decision it was to leave.
Ilkay Gündogan has issued a lengthy, emotional and admittedly “bittersweet” goodbye to Manchester City and the fans as he prepares to be unveiled as a Barcelona player imminently.
Soon to leave Man City for Spain after seven years at the club, with Mateo Kovačić set to arrive from Chelsea as his would-be replacement, Gündogan departs the Etihad as one of the most decorated players to ever play in Blue, having signed off his final season with a treble.
You can’t ask for much better than that.
Confessing that “goodbyes are never easy but it’s even harder with this team”, the 32-year-old German international penned an extensive and deeply heartfelt farewell to City and its supporters via The Players Tribune, insisting, “this is the closest team I’ve ever been a part of”.
After 7 years a wonderful time ends. You made me realize all my dreams. 🏆💯 I will carry you forever in my heart. Once a blue, always a blue! Thank you @ManCity! 💙🫶🏼 pic.twitter.com/YLCrsJU0TG
Opening his farewell message, the midfield maestro wrote: “When I first arrived here, I was a young man with no kids and a lot of dreams. It’s hard for me to even believe, but I am leaving seven years later as a father who has fulfilled every single dream that he ever had.
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“Today is bittersweet. Goodbyes are never easy, but it’s even harder with this team. When I had to break the news to the boys that I was leaving in our group chat, I was very emotional. I will miss all of them, honestly. But I am happy to say that I’m leaving here as a champion, and I have nothing but love for the club in my heart. How many footballers can say goodbye as the captain of a treble team?
“It’s amazing what we achieved. Five Premier League titles in my seven years here. Two FA Cups. The Champions League. The treble. But those are just trophies. The thing that I will remember the most is the feeling inside the squad, especially this season. I’ve never experienced something like it in football.”
The midfield maestro added that his City teammates were always lifting him up and calling him “Zidane” and “Pirlo” after every good training session and that the squad laughed “every day”, insisting “that’s rare in football”.
Going on to credit their first-ever UCL trophy — a personal obsession of his “for the last 10 years” having been left “crushed” by losing two European finals — and incredible treble to this closeness, Gündo said everything from the group chat to organising barbeques “made the difference”.
Shouting out the likes of Kevin De Bruyne, Erling Haaland, Ruben Dias and Jack Grealish (who he claims is “so misunderstood by some of the media”), he only had wonderful things to say about them not only as footballers but as people, labelling them as the reason he scored “so many key goals this season”.
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Ilkay Gündogan will now join La Liga giants Barcelona on a free transfer and a two-year deal, where his manager Pep who “made it possible” built his previous dynasty, bidding goodbye to Manchester City as a Centurion and a treble-winner. What a player and one who is sure to be missed by all City fans.
Featured Image — Ilkay Gündogan (via Instagram)/Manchester City (via Twitter)
Sport
Details released of Andy Burnham’s meetings with Manchester City owners while Mayor
Emily Sergeant
Details of Andy Burnham’s meetings with Manchester City owners during his tenure as Mayor of Greater Manchester have been released.
In case you need bringing up to speed on the situation a little first, Manchester City was found guilty back in September all of its charges related to the Premier League’s financial rules over a nine-season period, and on top of that, was also found guilty of the majority of charges in relation to its failure to co-operate with the League’s investigation.
According to the Premier League, the independent Commission found that Manchester City had arranged so-called ‘sham’ commercial deals with a number of its sponsors.
These were part of a disguised funding scheme – with those sponsors only required to pay a portion of the relevant sponsorship fees.
The remainder was then funded by Abu Dhabi United Group Investment & Development Ltd (ADUG), which owned the club.
The Commission also concluded, as quoted by the Premier League, that the club had ‘made concerted efforts to stop and frustrate the Premier League investigation’.
Within the past week or so, it has since come to light that now-Prime Minister Andy Burnham had dealings with Manchester City during his tenure as Greater Manchester Mayor, and Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) has now issued a public statement, giving details on the matter and what these ‘dealings’ entailed.
A spokesperson for GMCA confirmed that Burnham had a ‘formal meeting’ with Man City Chairman, Khaldoon Al Mubarak, back in October 2021.
The statement reads in full: “In October 2021, Andy Burnham, in his role as Mayor of Greater Manchester, had a formal meeting with Khaldoon Al Mubarak at the UK Government’s Global Investment Summit arranged by the Department for International Trade.
“In his capacity as Mayor, he was a guest of Manchester City FC at home matches on a small number of occasions, including attending Vincent Kompany’s testimonial match in September 2019, where he met the Chairman informally in the stands. These have been declared in the usual way.
“Also during his time as Mayor, representatives of Greater Manchester sporting clubs would routinely join business delegations as part of Mayoral international visits.
“This included representatives from Manchester United travelling to Austin and Dublin, Lancashire Cricket Club joining a delegation to India, and Manchester City FC staff supporting visits to China and Japan.”
Featured Image – Lauren Hurley / Number 10 Downing Street (Press Image via Flickr)
Sport
Multiple arrests made for ‘tragedy chanting’ and police officer assault as Man City defeated Liverpool
Emily Sergeant
Multiple people were arrested over the weekend as Manchester City defeated Liverpool in a Premier League clash.
Merseyside Police have confirmed that a total of 10 people were arrested during the policing operation at Liverpool’s home ground of Anfield as they hosted Manchester City on Sunday 11 October.
One man was arrested on suspicion of assaulting a police constable, five were on suspicion of tragedy chanting, one on suspicion of being drunk and disorderly, two for affray, and one on suspicion of throwing items onto the pitch.
Police are now appealing to the public, and are particularly looking to speak to witnesses of the assault of the officer.
At around 6:35pm, as fans left the stadium, a police officer sustained a ‘serious facial injury’ during the arrest of a man on Anfield Road, and was subsequently taken to hospital for treatment but is now recovering at home.
Investigating officers are now conducting enquiries, speaking to witnesses, and analysing CCTV and camera phone footage.
Chief Inspector Leanne Hobin said it’s ‘extremely disappointing’ that an officer has sustained a serious injury while carrying out their duty.
“I hope the arrests send a clear message and act as a deterrent to others,” Chief Inspector Hobin continued. “Anyone who engages in this abhorrent behaviour risks ending up in custody and getting a criminal record.
“Despite the actions of a few, the overwhelming majority of the 60,000 fans in attendance behaved well and I want to thank them for their co-operation.”
Manchester City ended up defeated Liverpool 3-0 during the Premier League clash at Anfield.
Danny Jones -
26th June 2023 
