Manchester City's Ilkay Gundogan celebrates scoring their second goal
Journalist Pete O’Rourke says Arsenal ‘could be an attractive proposition’ for Manchester City midfielder Ilkay Gundogan as his contract expires this summer.
The Lowdown: Arsenal interest
Arsenal reportedly held an interest in Gundogan last summer when he only had a year left on his contract at the Etihad Stadium.
He has still not renewed his deal with the club, meaning that he can leave as a free agent this summer once it expires.
The Latest: An ‘attractive’ move?
Speaking to GiveMeSport, O’Rourke says that the Gunners ‘could be an attractive proposition’ for Gundogan should he not sign a new deal, given that he would be able to work with Mikel Arteta again, but Pep Guardiola may be reluctant for him to move to North London due to the ‘massive’ impacts both Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko have had this season:
“Yeah, I don’t think he’d [Guardiola] ideally like to see one of his best players let go at Manchester City. He was obviously open to selling Zinchenko and Gabriel Jesus to Arsenal.
“They’ve had a massive impact at the Emirates, so he won’t want to go and strengthen one of his rivals and see one of his top players move to Arsenal.
“But obviously, the Mikel Arteta factor is there at Arsenal as well, having worked with Gundogan before, so maybe that’s why there is a consideration on Gundogan’s part maybe if he does want a change of scenery and move to a new club, to work with Arteta again could be an attractive proposition for him.”
The Verdict: Why not…
With Jesus and Zinchenko coming in and instantly making Arsenal better, as they sit top of the Premier League table, signing up another City star in Gundogan on a free transfer would be another smart move.
Hailed as an ‘incredible‘ footballer by Guardiola speaking about the German’s winner against Aston Villa on the last day of last season to hand City the title, Gundogan has shown that he can produce big moments in big games, and has that winning mentality that would add to Jesus’ and Zinchenko’s influence on the team.
Arteta can also get the best out of him, having worked with him before and lauding him as ‘tremendous‘ in the past, and at 32 years of age, he would add more experience to what is a young squad, offering Arteta another solid option in the middle of the park.
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