“But the club is above me” – Pep Guardiola issues plea to Manchester City regarding future of midfield star

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has hinted that he has made club officials aware of his desire to retain captain Ilkay Gundogan beyond this season.

The Germany international is rapidly approaching the natural expiry of his existing Manchester City contract, by which point he will be free to leave the Etihad Stadium after a stellar seven years in sky blue.

Unsurprisingly given the 32 year-old’s capabilities in central midfield, despite entering the twilight years of his career, interest in Ilkay Gundogan has not been hard to come by, with a number of European super clubs monitoring his situation.

The club understood to be most interested in signing the player are La Liga giants FC Barcelona, with the Camp Nou club’s manager Xavi a big admirer of the German’s talents in the centre of the park.

However, after shining for Manchester City once again on Saturday afternoon and scoring the game-winning two goals against Leeds United, Pep Guardiola may opt to harden his stance on his captain when offering input into internal discussions over the player’s future.

Speaking after the 2-1 win over Sam Allardyce’s side, the City boss was quizzed as to whether Ilkay Gundogan’s performance against Leeds would convince officials within the club to intensify negotiations over an extension.

“I said about the contract, the club is involved in that, the club knows my opinion about that, but the club is above me, and they have the decision,” said Guardiola. “The decisions always we take together, whatever, good or bad, together.”

“It’s not necessary for Gundo to score two incredible goals, how good he played today, reading the spaces, he has everything, incredible runs in the final-third. When I put him as a holding midfielder, how intelligent, how good he is.”

Pep Guardiola continued, “It’s not necessary today that he performs really well, to score two goals, to know exactly how much I like this player, and how I enjoyed all this time working with him, and how I would like to work with him in the future.”

Ilkay Gundogan will be keen to ensure his focus remains very much on events on the field, as he not only goes in search of his fifth Premier League title in a Manchester City, but also his first as club captain.

Should he opt not to extend at Manchester City, then Barcelona are understood to be waiting in the wings alongside clubs from the likes of Germany, Spain, and Italy, although his high salary package may act as a stumbling block for many potential suitors.