Manchester City are hopeful Ilkay Gundogan will sign a new deal over the coming weeks to end a lengthy period of uncertainty over the midfielder s future.
Gundogan, who featured as a second-half substitute and scored in Sunday s shoot-out as Manchester City beat Liverpool in the Community Shield on penalties, is out of contract at the end of the 2019-20 campaign.
The Germany international was Pep Guardiola s first signing at City in 2016, although a cruciate knee ligament injury curtailed his debut season at the Etihad Stadium before the turn of the year.
He has since proved a valuable member of the squad that won back-to-back Premier League titles and a domestic treble last term, even if not always a guaranteed starter.
Talks over a contract extension broke down during the second half of last season but Gundogan expressed a willingness to reopen negotiations at the end of City s treble-winning campaign.
Asked if he was thinking of remaining in Manchester after the Community Shield win, he smiled and told reporters: If you stay patient for another couple of weeks you will know – we will see.
Fresh terms for Gundogan would bring a level of clarity to his City career presently lacking with regards to compatriot Leroy Sane.
Here we go again defended
Another successful start into the season!
— Ilkay Gündogan (@IlkayGuendogan)
Bayern Munich have been linked with a mega-money move for Sane throughout the close season and Guardiola conceded this week that talks over a contract renewal for the 23-year-old had regressed.
Every situation is different and every situation is individual. Everyone is different and has to take a decision for himself, Gundogan said.
These kind of decisions sometimes take a little bit of time.
That s why I already mentioned during last season to stay patient because in the end it s a decision you make for the next few years.
That s why I was calm and relaxed and I m still relaxed. It s a comfortable situation for me at the moment.
Sane hobbled down the Wembley tunnel with a knee injury around the time Raheem Sterling gave City a 12th-minute lead against his former club, but the Premier League champions passed up opportunities to extend their advantage and substitute Joel Matip equalised for a much-improved Liverpool during the second half.
Both Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp have decried the lowly status that the English season s traditional curtain raiser has in the eyes of many observers and Gundogan insisted the game he entered with an hour gone certainly did not seem like a warm-up match.
I never felt it was like a friendly, even last year and in my time in Germany, playing in the Supercup for Dortmund, the 28-year-old added.
It s not a friendly when there is a trophy included – it’s a competition. When we are part of a competition we are going to try to play our best and try to win it. We won t stop doing that.
