Barcelona presents new signing Ilkay Gundogan

The Barcelona Club of Spain presented the 32-year-old player of Turkish origin, Ilkay Gundogan, with whom he signed a contract.

İlkay Gündoğan, in his speech at the promotional event held at the club’s training facility, said: “Playing in Barcelona is a dream come true for me.”

Expressing that his transfer to the Catalan club was on the agenda twice in the past, but did not happen afterwards, Gündoğan stated that he is very happy to come here, explaining that a phone call from Barcelona coach Xavi Hernández was enough and He said: “From the first moment I spoke with him it was the right decision to sign for Barça. I knew right away that he was shooting,” he said.

“WEARING THIS JACKET WAS A FALL”

The experienced midfielder said: “It makes you very proud to be a football player for this club. Wearing this shirt was a disaster. I have the necessary experience and quality to adapt here in a very short time”.

Noting that he wants to repeat the Champions League he won with Manchester City last season with Barcelona, ​​and that he likes new challenges, Gündoğan said: “We want to be stronger in the Champions League and we have enough confidence in ourselves to achieve it. he. “It’s a tough tournament, it’s a great responsibility to be a Barcelona player, but I’m sure we’ll make it,” he said.

Gündoğan also spoke on the phone with Barcelona’s Polish striker Robert Lewandowski before the summer break and stated that he received information about the team and the city, and this meeting helped him a lot.

“VERY TALENTED FOOTBALL PLAYERS”

Gündoğan, who praised Barcelona’s young stars Gavi, Pedri and De Jong, said: “My life and football career have not always been rosy. I think my experiences can help you too. They are very talented players and I would be very happy even if I brought them 1 percent.

For his part, the director of Barcelona Football, Mateu Alemany, said that since the summer of 2022 they are considering transferring Ilkay Gundogan and are waiting for January to start negotiations. Alemany said: “As coaches and managers, we did our best to convince İlkay. We thank him for his decision to choose us despite much higher financial offers ”. (AA)