Gundogan's comeback story could have a next chapter

Ilkay Gundogan was the creator who became captain. Now he is the confidant who could become a coach. Pep Guardiola rarely re-signs players but he broke a personal rule to be reunited with the German. They are the neighbours who may be found side by side in a dugout in the future.

- RICHARD JOLLY

Gundogan was Guardiola’s first signing for Manchester City; should the manager leave when his contract expires next summer, he may prove his last, as well. But even then, their alliance could be renewed. They were separated for a year when Gundogan joined Barcelona. Perhaps it gave Guardiola a mole in the Catalan camp. Certainly each had a sounding board. And it meant that, when Gundogan mooted the idea of the summer’s most sensational comeback, he was confident of the answer.

“We were in touch throughout last year,” Gundogan said. “We had more than a couple of phone calls. I went to his childhood club and he’s still a big fan of FC Barcelona, he doesn’t make a secret out of it because he’s from there and it’s the club he loves. He rang me up a couple of times, I rang him, we spoke a little bit so the contact was never really gone. So when you have such a good relationship, you can be honest and direct and this is exactly what I said to him. And when I put it out there, the idea, he loved it, and he said, ‘let’s try to do it’. From there, everything happened very quickly.”