It has been less than six months since Ilkay Gundogan joined Barcelona, but rumours of a departure have already been doing the rounds, quite bizarrely, one must add, in recent weeks.
Not very long ago, it surfaced that the 33-year-old midfielder wanted to move to Turkey to play for Galatasaray, but those rumours were quickly shut down by the player and his agent.
Gundogan open to Saudi Arabia move?
Now, according to reports in Saudi Arabia, as relayed by SPORT, Gundogan is open to moving to the Middle-Eastern nation after having refused such a move last summer.
Recently, Saad Al-Ladhim, director of the competition committee of the Saudi Arabian Federation, stated that there was a footballer who had refused to move to the country last summer but had contacted them to inform them that he would join a club in their league.
While he did not specify a name in his comments, newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat went on to report the news and then state that the player in question was none other than Barcelona’s Gundogan.
Having plundered heavily on bringing the biggest of names to their league, Saudi Arabia have no plans of slowing down next year and will look to add more marquee players.
Robert Lewandowski of Barcelona has already been linked heavily and the name of Marcos Alonso has also emerged as a possible target for the Saudi Arabian clubs.
Now Gundogan’s name is also being dragged into the rumour mill, although it is extremely unlikely there is any truth to the claims.
As mentioned earlier, Gundogan and his agent had already shot down rumours of a possible transfer to Turkey.
The midfielder had made it clear that he was happy and content at Barcelona, saying: “I am very happy in Spain, in my club.”
Given that he is playing regularly under Xavi and has a contract that runs until 2025, these rumours about Gundogan wanting to leave for Turkey and now Saudi Arabia, must be taken with a grain of salt.
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