İlkay Gündoğan

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Tarrou said:
It's all gone a bit quiet though, hasn't it? Can someone reassure me we're still signing him please?
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Is this good enough for you?

Surely rules out Barca, as I'm not buying this going on loan till Xmas bullshit.
 
Castia said:
Its complicated though, do Barcelona pay a fee for a player they cant use until next summer? at that time he will be available for free. And does Gundogan sign with Barcelona and then get loaned out in the meantime? seems a shit deal for everyone involved.
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They could use him in winter.
 
Nozzy said:
Source or, intuition?
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That was just me being sadistic. I followed it up with this:

bucky said:
If anything this going quite makes it more likely than before. Cheer up, we may sign better, which I actually hope we do.
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My gut feeling is telling me, we are signing someone better, then again I could just be a hopeless optimist.
 
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/...ogan-is-the-controller-manchester-united-need
Dispelling the Myth That Ilkay Gundogan Is the Controller Manchester United Need

The future of Ilkay Gundogan is a storyline many fans across the world will subscribe to this summer, as it appears his time at Borussia Dortmund is drawing to a close.

A changing of the managerial guard at Signal Iduna Park should spark a mini-revolution with Thomas Tuchel taking the reins, and it has been confirmed that Gundogan will not extend his contract beyond the summer of 2016, despite the club's offer.

Per Metro, among many others over the past few months, the German midfielder has been linked to Manchester United; talk of a £20 million bid to land the 24-year-old's services has been widely praised by the fanbase on social media, with thousands eager to see him don a Red Devils shirt.

The role so many have seemingly earmarked Gundogan for is the controller role in Louis van Gaal's midfield, replacing or time-sharing with the soon-to-be 34-year-old Michael Carrick. United have struggled to string a good performance together without their regal English creator, so recruiting depth in his position becomes the top task on a reasonably long to-do list this summer.

But Gundogan is not the controller United fans crave, nor has he ever been. It's odd that this misconception has spread so far given the access the world has to live Bundesliga matches, but it appears the myth requires dispelling, even at this stage.

Gundogan, in his prime (2013), was an explosive box-to-box midfielder, boasting fantastic athleticism and the ability to spear forward with the ball at his feet and chip in with the odd goal. It's arguable his zenith was the German Super Cup match against Bayern Munich that same year—Pep Guardiola's first game at the helm—where he tore through a midfield of Toni Kroos, Thiago Alcantara and Thomas Muller, and inspired a dramatic 4-2 victory.

But a spinal injury soon struck, ruling him out, effectively, for that entire season. It has debilitated him as a player, curtailing one of his most impressive and important assets: his mobility.

This season, he has returned to the first-team setup at Dortmund but rarely played well, totalling 21 starts in the Bundesliga this season, per WhoScored.com, but with very few strong performances to show for it. He is no longer a gallivanting, roaming destructor; he's a timid, shadow of his former self.

What can happen to players who lose mobility is they can settle into a more deep-lying, quarterback-esque role (see: David Beckham), so perhaps that's where the misconception, that Gundogan is a controller, has come from. But BVB's controller this season has been Nuri Sahin; he's the one who has stitched together their best performances, battling the tide of a declining Sven Bender and a poor Gundogan in the process.

If United are looking for their next controller at the Signal Iduna Park, it's Sahin they should be looking at, not his German team-mate.

There's absolutely no doubt that United need to address the controller position this summer, as Van Gaal seems incapable of constructing a good team performance without that pivotal player. That may sound harsh, but this is a man who changed his entire formation for the 2014 World Cup when Dutch controller Kevin Strootman tore his ACL, and who tried the very same trick at the start of the season when Carrick picked up an injury in pre-season.

Blind is an able deputy, but again he's not the right man for the job. Options are thin, as a truly special breed of player is required for the role, but the last thing Van Gaal should be doing is forcing an out-of-form, £20 million import into a role that has never really suited him.

He's not the answer for United this summer when assessing the base of their midfield—at least, not on current form. If Van Gaal feels he can mould the German into that player, it will take a lot of hard work; Gundogan will practically need rewiring, as the current iteration of the player does not fit the brief.
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What's the point of this transfer ban if they(Barcelona) can sign players and loan them back?:lol:
 
Sied said:
Is this good enough for you?

Surely rules out Barca, as I'm not buying this going on loan till Xmas bullshit.
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Like you said, surely that quote highlights that he is not going to Barca if that's the case?
 
bucky said:
Like I said hopeless optimist regarding United. But I do believe we will make one marquee signing.
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We'll need one of those this summer! :D I get the feeling if there is a big name it'll be Bale who I'm not all that bothered about.
 
Devil may care said:
We'll need one of those this summer! :D I get the feeling if there is a big name it'll be Bale who I'm not all that bothered about.
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Yeah, I think so, too. I don't mind him as long as we do smart business in other areas.
 
What had Gundogan's GF posted on Instagram?
 
Found it. How do I embed Instagram?
 
Mitchell Nicholas said:
Good deal if true, and he stays fit.
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Well, that is the big question with all our current players and future signings. I don't think Shaw and Rojo had injury blighted seasons before this one. :)

His GF is probably taking the piss with this instagram post.

Edit: And she was. :lol:
 
Yeah i mean i saw the pics from Mallorca she posted a few hours later, wanted to say something, but thought would destroy the atmosphere in here. She is teasing obviously....
 
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