It's an exciting time to be a Man City fan with the arrival of Pep Guardiola, the stand-out managerial appointment of the coming 2016-17 season that is also expected to see the return of Jose Mourinho and the new arrival of Antonio Conte.
If the 2015-16 season is anything to go by many more clubs in the Premier League are able to compete on big signings, making even finishing in the top-four much more difficult as Chelsea and Manchester United have found. More emphasis it seems is being placed on the gains of teamwork, strategy and fitness, qualities that can be enhanced with good mangement.
Pep Guardiola clearly has a preferred way he will want his new team to play when he takes over and according to reports he wants to make Ilkay Gundogan a central part of his reshaped squad. The 25-year-old Dortmund midfielder will be a familiar player for Pep and he clearly admires the player known for being a highly versatile box-to-box player.
Ilkay Gundogan has been with Dortmund for 5 seasons but has been frequently linked with moves away for the past couple of seasons and now it seems he is quite determined to move on himself, refusing to sign a new contract and putting Dortmund in a dificult bargaining position.
Sky Sports have reported that City and Dortmund are negotiating the transfer fee with Gundogan having already agreed personal terms of £4.8million/year but the two clubs have some way to go before an agreement is reached.
Gondogan's contract is set to expire in 2017 with City willing to pay Dortmund £28.3million as a transfer fee, some way off the £36.4million they want.
Source: DSG
