FC Barcelona midfielder Ilkay Gündogan has asked to leave the club in the current transfer window. SPORTwhich cited anonymous sources.

The veteran was surprisingly missing from Hansi Flick’s squad list for the first matchday when it was published in Catalonia around midday on Saturday.

Jijantes“Gerard Romero explained that Gündogan will not play in Barça’s 2024/2025 season opener against Valencia at Mestalla due to a blow to the eyebrow sustained in the 3-0 Joan Gamper Trophy defeat to AS Monaco earlier this week.

The German international was substituted at half-time in the traditional match, but was substituted 22 minutes later after losing the ball during a goal by the visitors.

In another corner of X, however, RAC1Marta Ramon tweeted that the real reason for Gündogan’s non-participation was to put pressure on him to leave.

One and a half hours before kick-off SPORT reported on the sensational news that Gündogan, who moved from Manchester City to Barça on a free transfer just a year ago, has asked to leave his current employer in the current transfer window.

“Ilkay Gündogan wants to end his time at FC Barcelona,” wrote the Catalan newspaper.

“The German midfielder has said ‘enough’ and has already communicated to both the coaching staff and the sports department his willingness to agree to a departure before the end of the current summer market,” it said.

This means that head coach Hansi Flick, who once appointed him captain of his national team, and sporting director Deco should know about Gündogan’s wishes.

Rumors have been circulating for some time now that Gündogan is a target for clubs in Saudi Arabia or Turkey, where his parents come from. However, there have been no concrete offers so far for the player, who turns 34 in October.

In the Turkish Süper Lig, the president of Galatasaray has expressed his desire to sign Gündogan more than once, and José Mourinho’s Fenerbahce is also ready to move heaven and earth to sign the treble winner of the 2022/2023 season with Manchester City.

Back to Barca, it would be convenient to remove Gündogan’s high salary from the payroll at a time when the club is trying to circumvent the limits of Financial Fair Play to register players or make new signings.

With the purchase of Dani Olmo, Flick has more than enough offensive midfielders in his ranks – he also made this clear in the preseason – and can afford the loss of Gündogan from a sporting point of view.