Welcome Gundongan

From the OS:

German international Gundogan joins City from Borussia Dortmund on a four-year deal.

A creative, technically proficient midfielder, the 25-year old can operate anywhere in the middle of the park and will give incoming manager Pep Guardiola plenty of options.

“I’m thrilled to have signed for Manchester City,” said Gundogan. “When I learned of City’s interest my heart was set on coming here and things have moved very quickly.

“I have loved my time with Borussia Dortmund and I would like to thank the club and the supporters for the five very happy years I spent there.

“They gave me a platform to play on and I became a better player because of the belief, patience and trust they showed in me.

“Now I have a new challenge and that is to achieve great things with City. The opportunity to work with a coach like Pep Guardiola is something I am really looking forward to and I am flattered to be the first signing the Club has made this summer.

“I can promise the City fans I will give everything to help us win titles both in England and the Champions League. These are exciting times.

“I have my best years ahead of me and I think we can achieve great things together. I can’t wait to begin this new chapter in my career.”


The 25 year-old midfielder made 157 appearances over the past five seasons for Borussia Dortmund and has won 16 caps for Germany, scoring four goals.

City’s Director of Football Txiki Begiristain added: “Ilkay is an excellent addition to our team and we are delighted to have him on board.

“He is an intelligent and versatile midfielder who can operate in a number of different roles. I think our supporters will enjoy his work ethic and technical ability and I believe he will be a very important player for us in the coming years.”

Born in Gelsenkirchen, he started out with local side Schalke 04’s youth team, moving on to SV Gelsenkirchen-Hessler 06 where he spent five years and then had a further year at SVV Buer.

Aged 15, he signed for Vfl Bochum, making his senior debut during the 2008/09 campaign. A couple more appearances for Bochum’s second team followed before he moved to FC Nurnberg, clocking up 53 starts between 2009 and 2011.

Gundogan’s talents then caught the eye of Borussia Dortmund boss Jürgen Klopp.

During his first year at the Westfalenstadion, he was an integral member of the side that won the Bundesliga and German Cup, playing 36 times and scoring four goals.

In his second campaign, Ilkay helped Dortmund reach the Champions League final at Wembley, scoring his side’s only goal from the penalty spot as Klopp’s men lost 2-1 to Bayern Munich.

A back injury kept him side-lined for the majority of the 2013/14 season but he returned to have excellent campaigns – perhaps his best yet – in 2014/15 and 2015/16.

Gundogan is recovering well from the knee injury which ruled him out of this summer’s Euro 2016.
 
Well, that looks promising. Quick feet, an eye for a pass, unselfish and the sort of player who seems to enjoy providing opportunities for others. Sergio will thrive on the kind of service offered shown in the video compilation.

Let's hope he makes a speedy and full recovery from his knee injury and troubles the medical team no more.

Welcome to the next phase of Manchester City's development :026:
 
Correct pronunciation is as follows.
There is an umlaut over the u, so its said as an oo but short, not long, as Goon (not gun). The g is soft as in w, so it is:
Goondawun.




 
Rising - 2/6/2016 13:24


Correct pronunciation is as follows.
There is an umlaut over the u, so its said as an oo but short, not long, as Goon (not gun). The g is soft as in w, so it is:
Goondawun.
Click to expand...

His first name is pronounced Ilk Eye

So considering his injury problems

Ill guy Go and do one
 
This is a good read

http://readmancity.com/2016/06/02/exclusive-stefan-bienkowski-on-ilkay-gundogan/
 
Bluedub - 2/6/2016 13:40

Rising - 2/6/2016 13:24


Correct pronunciation is as follows.
There is an umlaut over the u, so its said as an oo but short, not long, as Goon (not gun). The g is soft as in w, so it is:
Goondawun.
Click to expand...

His first name is pronounced Ilk Eye

So considering his injury problems

Ill guy Go and do one
Click to expand...

:001: :001: :001:

 
Those who know me best will confirm that I am probably the least cynical cove one could ever wish to meet, so it pains me to be the one to piss on anyone's parsnips but...the best teams don't sell their best players, and then not without extracting as many of our English pounds as is indecently possible.

I suggest it might be prudent to wait until the end of the season before getting over excited.



 
Dortmund have a habit of selling their best players, it's usually to their parent club in Munich though. Gundogan would be widely considered one of their best but with only 12 months to run on his contract it's either sell now or risk losing him for nothing next summer.

No guarantees with any new player of course and there's the slight concern over his injury issues but I can't help but get excited about this one, this fella on his day is one of the best midfielders around.
 
I may be another to rain on the parade.... Not sure that signing a player recovering from a serious knee injury an the possibility of following that with another player , Lapotre .. Also recovering from a serious injury is a great idea.
Maybe it's just the old , it never goes right for us Blue in me.
 
belfastblue - 2/6/2016 21:23

I may be another to rain on the parade.... Not sure that signing a player recovering from a serious knee injury an the possibility of following that with another player , Lapotre .. Also recovering from a serious injury is a great idea.
Maybe it's just the old , it never goes right for us Blue in me.
Click to expand...

It turned out ok with RSC so perhaps we are worrying unduly. It's not as though we are likely to make that mistake again!

 
Think Gundogan had a long term back injury a season or two ago, maybe wrong.
Either way we're signing possibly two players with serious injuries.
 
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