Manchester United were once reported to be close to signing Ilkay Gundogan. Now he is starring for Manchester City.
Noisy neighbours City look set to continue their procession of league titles, having moved four points clear at the top this weekend, with a game in hand.
Key to their win over Everton at the weekend was llkay Gundogan, who scored twice, and has been a key player under Pep Guardiola.
But it could have been so very different. In 2015, Gundogan was described by Sky Sports as ‘close’ to Manchester United.
Why Gundogan did not sign for Manchester United
A 24-year-old Gundogan was being tipped to leave Borussia Dortmund to join Manchester United in April 2015. Louis van Gaal was manager at Old Trafford at the time.
Sky wrote: “Manchester United are close to agreeing a £21.5m deal to sign Borussia Dortmund midfielder Ilkay Gundogan, according to Sky sources.”
The report added: “[Gundogan has] been linked with a move to Manchester City and Arsenal but United are now close to wrapping up a deal.”
The same summer Louis van Gaal signed another midfield player from the Bundesliga instead, landing Bastian Schweinsteiger. He also signed Morgan Schneiderlin.
So what happened? Well, the rumours were well known to Gundogan who admitted taking an interest in the United project. But he says that Dortmund simply did not want to sell.
Gundogan said in 2021, via Metro: “It’s kind of true. There were talks. I think that was at least two or three years before I joined City. When I was playing at Borussia Dortmund. One team-mate of mine, Shinji Kagawa, went to Man United and someone told me they came to a few games to watch him before they bought him.
“Then I took their attention but it never really went into advanced talks because Borussia Dortmund made quite early clear that they are not willing to sell me.”
Kagawa’s poor experience at United probably didn’t help either. United evidently gave up on this move quickly and switched to easier alternatives, while Gundogan did not fight for the move.
Neither Schweinsteiger or Schneiderlin worked out, and Louis van Gaal ended up being sacked at the end of the season.
And this disruption played a part in United missing out on Gundogan the following summer, when he signed for City for £21 million. United had led the race the year before, but took their eye off the ball, while City ramped up their pursuit.
The German international has been a key part of their success, and has netted nine times this season.
He will go down as one of many missed opportunities of the Van Gaal era, like Sadio Mane. Ultimately, he just wasn’t a glitzy enough star name for Ed Woodward either.
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