Ilkay Gundogan, 32 years old, his adventure began in FC Barcelona with the illusion of a novice and reviewed, at the headquarters of boat in The Angelsfor World of sports, some aspects of these early days. The full interview will be published this Tuesday in our digital and printed editions, but in this preview you can see that the German is committed to playing whatever it takes to achieve as many victories as he has achieved and he returned the praise that Pedri gave him a few days ago.
Define yourself as a footballer with one word.
I would like to say that a key word to define my game is ‘adaptation’. I think I’m a very flexible player, I can play different positions, different roles, I’ve done it in the past, also at Manchester City, where I played the role of midfielder, double pivot, ’10’, I even played as a ‘false nine’… honestly, I think I can play in several positions and the coach appreciates that about me. At the end of the day, the most important thing is that the team succeeds.
Which player has surprised you the most these days?
I already know most of them, from watching them play and also playing against them, either in club or national team competition. There is one player I am looking forward to playing and that is Pedri. I think he is a great talent, he is so young and at the same time so good, he has so much potential… Of course, we play in similar positions and we will play a lot of games close to each other. We will try to find each other a lot. Something like Frenkie de Jong. As a midfielder, you value these types of players close to you on the pitch, players who will pass the ball, mix and match and create actions and combos.
He spent seven years with Pep Guardiola and spent a few days with Xavi. Have you seen the similarities and differences?
You can see that it is the same school, that Pep had an influence on Xavi and his game. Of course, also the Barça school: possession, not losing the ball, trying to create, playing intelligently, finding space… many of the things we do here are similar to what we did at City with Pep and that also gives me an advantage, it’s easier to adapt.
Source: La Verdad
I am Shawn Partain, a journalist and content creator working for the Today Times Live. I specialize in sports journalism, writing articles that cover major sporting events and news stories. With a passion for storytelling and an eye for detail, I strive to be accurate and insightful in my work.
