What you've all been waiting for...

Welcome back to City, İlkay Gündoğan 🩵

Ilkay Gundogan: “My seven years at Man City were a time of pure contentment for me, both on and off the pitch. I grew as a person and a player, developed a special relationship with the Man City fans and enjoyed amazing success. It was an exceptional period in my life.”

Ilkay Gundogan: “To have the opportunity to return means so much. Everyone knows the respect I have for Pep – the best manager in the world. You feel constantly challenged, which for any professional is exactly what you want. I cannot wait to work with him again.”

Ilkay Gundogan: “And what can I say about my teammates here at Man City…they are world class footballers. I am genuinely delighted to have the chance to train and play alongside them. Honestly, I cannot wait to wear the Man City shirt again.”

Txiki Begiristain: “Ilkay is one of the finest professionals I've ever worked with. His dedication, approach to every session is something special. Exceptional midfielder. Reading of the game, football intelligence, technical quality, leadership, excellent addition.”

Txiki Begiristain: “To be able to bring him back here is fantastic news for everyone. He will help us in our main objective, which is to win trophies, but he will also be an inspiration to so many.”

Ilkay Gundogan on Rodri: “He’s someone that if there’s someone maybe in our team right now that is irreplaceable, for me it’s definitely Rodri.”

Ilkay Gundogan: “I don't want to sound too nostalgic; it's still about competing, it's still about having that drive, it's still about trying to be the best version of yourself, and that's an ambition that I still have.”

Ilkay Gundogan: "When you leave Man City, you realize what you had. You realise how amazing that time was. You realise how big the Club is, the best Club in the world.”

Ilkay Gundogan: “It just feels so nice to be home.”

Ilkay Gundogan: “I still have an incredible sense for winning, for competing, and I think the package that you get at Man City right now, today... you can't find it anywhere else. That made it for me, to be honest, very easy to come back!”

Ilkay Gundogan: “I love the Premier League, it's the best league in the world, and to be able to compete in this league again is just a joy!”

Ilkay Gundogan: “Being able to be back at Man City, and to play at the highest level and compete, again is a privilege and hopefully I can contribute this season to be more successful than last season. That's always the target!”

Ilkay Gundogan on choosing Man City's 19 shirt: “Obviously number 21 and 22 were free as well and I was last year 22 in in Barcelona and I was 21 in the German national team, but I didn’t win any trophies with these numbers.”

Press Conference: Pep Guardiola’s pre-Ipswich press conference. 🎙️

“When managers say anything can happen until the transfer window finishes, Ilkay Gundogan is the real proof.”

On Ilkay Gundogan: “A complete surprise, unexpected, it happened and we know him quite well. Me personally, but the staff, the Man City players, everyone, and the quality that he played last season in Barcelona was a high, high level, consistent, a lot of games.”

“We didn't have any doubts when the possibility to re-sign him [Ilkay Gundogan] was open, and we're absolutely delighted that he's back!”

On Ilkay Gundogan’s role: “Of course he's not a teenager anymore. But the reason why we decided to take the chance to do it is for the level he played last season... Even in the Euros he played really, really good as well.”