After the unexpected discovery of a clause in his contract, Ilkay Gundogan may leave Barcelona as soon as this coming weekend.
Just six short weeks ago, the German made the move from Manchester City to the Catalan club.
Weeks ago but could be packing his bags on Sunday if he hasn’t been registered by then.
Gundogan’s last act as a Man City player was lifting the Champions League in June Credit: getty
Gundogan chose to sign with Barcelona instead of extending his contract with City, which the latter offered. Image courtesy of Getty
Shortly after he led City to a historic treble, Gundogan made the jump to the Nou Camp on a free transfer. He characterized the move as a “dream.”
The club had intended to keep the midfielder under contract for a further season, but Gundogan instead decided to take a salary cut in order to complete his transfer to Barcelona.
But as we approach the first weekend of the new La Liga season, Gundogan has not yet been officially registered as a player for Barcelona.
According to Forbes, a clause in his contract permits him to leave the club on Sunday as a free agent in the event that they do not register him in time for the match against Getafe.
To make matters even worse, reports in Spain say that Gundogan would still be paid for an entire year, which is a situation that the financially stressed Barca would like to avoid as much as possible.
As a result of the injury that he sustained during the club’s pre-season tour of the United States, the brief time that the German has spent at Barcelona has not been the most trouble-free.
Gundogan left with a limb injury shortly after making a second-half cameo in the loss to Arsenal. He did not return for the 3-0 victory over Real Madrid’s opponents in Texas.
On Tuesday, when they play for the Joan Gamper Cup against Tottenham, it will be interesting to see if he gets any playing time.
This weekend marks the beginning of Bracelona’s title defense in La Liga, and the team has only 13 players enrolled for the competition.
Ousmane Dembele is anticipated to sign with Paris Saint-Germain while Franck Kessie is the subject of a bid from Saudi Pro League side Al Ahli. Both of these players are among the club’s 13 players currently on its roster.
