Revealed: How Pep Guardiola convinced Ilkay Gundogan to return to Man City after just one season at Barcelona

There’s a man in town this week, Pep Guardiola. And one with an extra spring in his step.

Manchester City had their season opener under control, calmly keeping a palm on Chelsea’s forehead and avoiding any random punches. Twenty-four hours later, their manager popped in on one of his favourite occasions.

Salut Wines is about half a mile from Guardiola’s home, near the cathedral. As he walked in cheerfully on Monday night, it seemed increasingly likely that an old neighbour he has fond memories of would soon be back.

The wheels were in motion to facilitate the return of Ilkay Gundogan when Guardiola arrived at Salut, ostensibly in the mood to buy something to celebrate. They have a separate temperature-controlled fridge for the really good stuff in that bar and a couple of takeaway reds cost him around £500.

A special occasion, after all, and one of those transfers that blows you away. There was still some work to be done on that front, but when it became clear last week that Barcelona wanted to get rid of Gundogan’s wages – more than £200,000 a week – City moved.

The band was back together on Wednesday night. Guardiola, Gundogan, Ferran Soriano and Txiki Begiristain were at Catalan restaurant Tast to toast the captain’s comeback on an initial one-year contract. The free transfer is expected to be formally completed on Friday.

It had been a hectic few days. Guardiola had made it clear that he was hoping for a new midfielder, but he also knew that bringing in a traditional No.6 to complement Rodri was fanciful. Gundogan had become available and it had to happen, as much for the role as for the romance. The last time the German was seen in blue was in Istanbul, holding the Champions League trophy with tears in his eyes in a corner of the Ataturk Stadium. With fans swarming over a fence, the emotion was overwhelming for a man who had decided to part ways with a club and manager with whom he had such a strong bond.

Part of the reason for leaving in 2023 was the length of the contract. It is now ironic that if he had stuck around to activate another year of his new deal, he could have stayed for three years.

Either way, the idea of ​​living somewhere with better weather appealed to his family. He and his wife Sara welcomed baby Kais in the months before he joined Barca. It was a fresh start, but one that didn’t work out, with the politics of the Nou Camp consuming him. The serenity of a Guardiola reunion is worlds away from the Barca experience.

Sara, who was notorious for complaining about Manchester food, because it was all frozen in restaurants that were only interested in making big profits on drinks, grew to love the city. She admitted to the Mail Sport in February that she actually missed the place and the friends she made there. Catalonia seemed lonelier.

Gundogan always identified with Manchester. Born in Gelsenkirchen, he recognized the importance of football to the region here and there. Its industrial roots are related to the Rhine region in Germany. For him, Manchester always felt like home. Spiritually, if anything.

Gundogan has told these pages before that he is such an overthinker that he questions his own character — which, for a man who has spent thousands of hours on a slew of charitable causes in the city, seems overly self-critical — so Saudi Arabia can’t have been all that appealing. The idea of ​​Turkey, where his parents come from, might have been trickier, but there’s time for that if he wants it.

Gundogan was Guardiola’s first signing at the Etihad, all the way back in 2016. They signed him injured, such was the new manager’s determination for him to be there. They stood by him as he recovered from two serious knee injuries to reach the pinnacle of his City career, winning the Premier League, the FA Cup and Ol’ Big Ears in successive games. Or so they thought.

Guardiola’s first signing and, if they don’t follow through with a striker to replace Julian Alvarez, possibly his last. The poetry of that would be perfect.

He was the Guardiola organiser in midfield, the man who understands his boss tactically better than anyone else. The brain who controls their tempo. The scorer of the fastest goal in the history of the 2023 FA Cup final. The brace against Aston Villa on the dramatic final day in 2022. And in 2021, someone who redefined himself as a false nine and led them to the title with 13 goals.

Smart players can operate anywhere. Moments follow Gundogan everywhere. Or, more specifically, Gundogan haunts moments. Even at 33, he will still have something left.

For a few days last month, Gundogan seemed to be the ghost of City’s pre-season tour of America. He was in New York at the same time, without seeing any of his former team-mates. Then, even more strangely, in their Orlando hotel — apparently without seeing anyone.

When he saw them before a friendly between City and Barca in the theme park capital of the world, the embraces suggested it had been a while since they had been together. Guardiola seemed unable to let him go in the tunnel. He doesn’t have to now. Not now that the ink has dried, anyway.

This acquisition does raise some questions about James McAtee and the potential block it may impose on his development.

Still, it does bring some extra leadership, given that the hole Gundogan left last year was bigger than expected. He does a lot of invisible work off the pitch — his dressing room rousing has been sporadic and impactful — and can be a bit moody at times.

“It takes a lot to make me angry,” he told Mail Sport two years ago, two days after their European semi-final capitulation at Real Madrid. “But when I get angry, I explode. I keep it to myself for as long as possible, but that’s not the best way to deal with things either.”

The Barcelona star discovered that after what he saw as character flaws in a defeat to Real Madrid that bore similarities to an episode in the Wembley tunnel in 2021. A rotated City had lost an FA Cup semi-final to Chelsea and a player is said to have been messing around on his phone in the aftermath.

Gundogan had to be calmed down. He was disappointed by a poor performance and made a point of it for a team that was divided into two: starters and non-starters.

Fernandinho took him aside and they set up meetings with players to focus the attention. Gundogan offered some advice and the two even asked Guardiola if he could rotate the team a bit more to keep people involved.

Two weeks later they beat Paris Saint-Germain and then enjoyed one of the most openly harmonious afternoons you will ever experience at Crystal Palace.

There was no crowd then, but the noise from the visitors’ bench — the cheering, the joy — City sounded like they had a full away section. That’s Gundogan’s genius. He understands Guardiola, sure, but he also understands people.