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La Liga winners Barcelona are eager to strengthen their midfield depth going into the summer and were heavily linked with Bayern’s Joshua Kimmich, Bernardo Silva, and Ilkay Gundogan. The Blaugranas are closing on the deal for Manchester City midfielder Ilkay Gundogan on a free transfer as the German’s contract with City expires on June 30.
As reported by Fabrizio Romano, Gundogan is set to sign a two-year deal with an option of extending it one year further. The deal is set to include a release clause worth 500 million euros. Although Manchester City had offered Gundogan a one-year extension with an option to extend for another, the player is said to be looking for a longer deal.
Barcelona President Joan Laporta have verbally agreed on the same when asked about the deal and the medical tests for the player are already approved by the Barcelona staff. However, the official announcement of the same is not yet done as Gundogan is yet to communicate the decision to Manchester City.
Gundogan will join Barcelona’s talented midfield pool of Gavi, Pedri, Pablo Torre and Frenkie De Jong, aiming to provide some experience in the middle of the pitch. On the other hand, City are set to replace Gundogan with Mateo Kovacic from Chelsea for a fee of £25m plus £5m in add-ons but the deal is yet to materialize.
