Arsenal was unable to outbid Barcelona for Ilkay Gundogan due to Man City’s recent transfer restriction.
Ilkay Gundogan may not have been acquired by Arsenal this summer due to Manchester City’s recently implemented transfer rule.
Gundogan joined Barcelona on a three-year contract this summer after leaving City on a free transfer after aiding the team to an historic treble.
The midfielder reportedly wanted to sign a long-term contract to stay at City, and prior to joining the Catalan giants, he had also been linked to a move to Arsenal.
The German said to Bild while he was in transit: “I’m honest, and many people don’t know this, in the end, it wasn’t about a year or two.
The running time was not an issue. City had to wait a while for the talks to really pick up.
The circumstance would have been diverse if this had occurred a little earlier.
Therefore, the conclusion was flawless and couldn’t have come at a better time.
Moreover, playing for FC Barcelona was one of my childhood ambitions.”.
Of course, considering that City challenged Arsenal for the Premier League title last season, it is likely that City would have preferred for Gundogan to move to Barcelona rather than Arsenal.
In fact, a Football Insider article from April claims that City has decided not to sell any more first team players to Arsenal.
There have been rumors that the club will still forbid City players from leaving, even if the Gunners make sizable offers for them.
The alleged stance is understandable given that Arsenal battled City for much of the 2022–23 season and that the team is expected to contend for the Premier League title for the foreseeable future.
In fact, Pep Guardiola sold players to Mikel Arteta’s team last summer, giving the impression that City was desperate to help Arsenal win the title.
Oleksandr Zinchenko and Gabriel Jesus, who both made the switch from City to Arsenal last year and are both essential to the north Londoners’ title defense.
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