2023-06-22 19:45:51
BarcelonaWhen Josep Maria Bartomeu is asked about things from his presidency at Barça, he likes to remember that during his term, despite the many criticisms for financial and sporting management, the football team won 13 titles and players arrived such as Ter Stegen, Luis Suárez, Pedri, Rakitic and Frenkie de Jong. He even mentions Dembélé, now that it seems the Frenchman is finally taking off. But it has a thorn stuck in it. An operation that was in the bag and that was scrapped at the last minute due to the whim of the coach: Ilkay Gündogan. Eight years after that failed incorporation, the German midfielder, of Turkish descent, will end up wearing Blaugrana.
The signing closed this week and was not without interference. Manchester City, his club of origin, raised the renewal offer to 14 million per year and Arsenal were also added to the auction. Some problems added to the uncertainty of knowing if Barça has enough fair play to face the operation. Finally, Mateu Alemany’s quick trip to Munich, where the player was undergoing a medical check-up, served to defuse the situation. The agreement is for two seasons, with an optional third, and Blaugrana sources confirm that the player has asked to leave City before Barça formally communicates his incorporation. Gündogan has agreed to lower his salary to 9 million. A fact that Barcelona wanted to highlight with pride.
Gündogan’s first failed signing with Barça
It was the summer of 2015. A very turbulent time in a Barça that had just won the treble and had presidential elections. And, also, a time when the club was sanctioned by FIFA and could not register players on the market. Even so, the technical secretariat had on the table the name of Gündogan, who was then playing for Borussia Dortmund. It was an easy negotiation. The midfielder wanted to go to Camp Nou, he didn’t mind waiting half a year without playing – no registration could be formalized until the next winter market – and Dortmund agreed to sell him for 20 million. Everything was agreed, he had passed the medical examination and was already looking for a house in Barcelona. And when everything was ready to go, coach Luis Enrique entered the scene.
“Buff…” says Bartomeu when he remembers that moment. He even misses a bit. Lucho, with the power given to him by having won the League, the Cup and the Champions League, demanded another profile: that of Arda Turan. “It was an election summer, the president knew he was dominating the polls, but he didn’t want to hear about conflicts with the coach. So he canceled the operation and signed Arda,” recalls a former board member. In reality, at that time, it was not Bartomeu, who had resigned to run for the elections, but Ramon Adell as president of the management company. “It seemed that the history of Barça depended on that signing”, he himself admitted to ARA. He even considered resigning for that operation.
Arda signed with Barça after paying for the taste and desire of an Atlético de Madrid who didn’t know whether to rub his hands or his eyes. Neither more nor less than 42 million between fixed and variable. And, at the same time, he had to tell Gündogan that he would not come to Barcelona. The situation was so uncomfortable that Bartomeu did not dare to personally call the midfielder’s father, who had been his interlocutor during the negotiations: he delegated the trance to Jordi Mestre, who was then the sports vice president. “The call was an absolute drama, with tears,” they remember the noble offices. Gündogan stayed another year at Dortmund and, in the summer of 2016, when the failure to choose Arda was becoming evident, the German signed for Manchester City. Coincidence or not, it was the first addition that Pep Guardiola made to the club citizen. He would end up being the captain.
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