Manchester City to allow Gundogan to run down contract

Bengaluru, June 2: German international midfielder Ilkay Gundogan will be allowed to break Manchester City’s policy on contracts and run his contract down at the Ethiad.

The Germany midfielder is locked in talks over an extension for quite a long time now and has one year left.

It is believed that Gundogan wants regular first team football which he has not been provided by Pep Guardiola and is eager to return to his homeland Germany.

The Cityzens would rather sell players with a year left but are making a special case for Gundogan as he cost them just £20million back in 2016.

They risk losing the ex-Borussia Dortmund star for nothing in a year but reckon two titles and three domestic cups is a good return on their investment.

Gundogan will assess his position in Pep Guardiola’s squad before committing himself, with Inter Milan monitoring his situation.

He started 23 Premier League games during the treble-winning campaign but City have also been looking for a centre-midfielder in the transfer market as a long-term replacement for Fernandinho.

Guardiola tried to land Ajax’s Frenkie de Jong before Barcelona swooped and other midfielders they have looked at include Ruben Neves, Rodri, Saul Niguez and Tanguy Ndombele.

International team-mates Sami Khedira and Emre Can ran their contracts down to secure free transfers in recent past and Gundogan could be the next but Cityzens still believe he will sign an extension.

Meanwhile, striker Sergio Aguero says he will be focused on the final two years of his deal at City before turning his attention to a return to Independiente in Argentina.

He said: “Obviously the fans are excited about the return but I have a contract with Manchester City and I try to focus on these two years that I've got left and later I will see

“Obv 'El Rojo’ (Independiente) is always the priortity.”