Per Mertesacker says Arsenal are in a ‘good position’ in Ilkay Gundogan transfer chase

Gundogan is highly sought-after this summer after inspiring Manchester City to the Treble
Dom Smith12 June 2023

Per Mertesacker believes there are two key reasons why Ilkay Gundogan could move to Arsenal this summer.

Mertesacker played at centre-back for Arsenal from 2011 to 2018 and is now head of the Gunners’ academy. The last few years of his Germany career overlapped with the start of Gundogan’s.

He told German TV channel ZDF that Gundogan may feel it is “mission accomplished” in his Manchester City career after sealing the Treble in Istanbul with Champions League Final victory over Internazionale on Saturday.

Mertesacker said about interest in Gundogan: “I think the clubs are queuing. Because [Mikel] Arteta knows him and we probably haven’t broken off contact, we’re in a good position.

“I think he’ll let it all sink in first and then choose from one of the four clubs.”

Gundogan is wanted by Arsenal, Barcelona and AC Milan, while City are desperate for him to sign a contract extension. Meanwhile, an unnamed Saudi club are also interested in signing the 32-year-old.

After his double secured victory over Manchester United and helped City to the FA Cup trophy on June 3, Gundogan told the BBC: “I have not made a final decision on my future yet.”

Gundogan, who was Pep Guardiola’s second City signing when he joined the club in 2016, is out of contract this summer.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in