Barcelona president Joan Laporta has discussed the departure of Ilkay Gundogan and insists the Germany international’s exit was purely for sporting reasons.
There’s been plenty of speculation that Barca wanted to offload Gundogan to get his salary off the wage bill, but Laporta has said that is simply not the case.
“Ilkay Gündogan is an excellent player and person. The year we have had with him has been fantastic,” he told a press conference on Tuesday.
“After a meeting with Flick and assessing the situation of the squad, he decided that he wanted to leave.