Ilkay Gundogan sacrificing huge figure to re-join Man City after ripping up lucrative Barcelona contract

Ilkay Gundogan looks set to return to Man City.

Ilkay Gundogan will sacrifice a huge sum to re-join Manchester City after ripping up his Barcelona contract.

Man City look set to complete the signing of their former captain Gundogan from Barcelona in one of the surprise transfers of the summer.

The German midfielder left City last summer after his contract at the Etihad Stadium expired and he rejected City’s proposal.

Instead, the treble-winning captain signed a two-year deal with Barcelona with the option of an additional year. That third year was triggered last season when he featured in more than 60 per cent of Barca’s games.

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However, over the weekend the news broke that Barcelona coach Hansi Flick had told the 33-year-old that he is not in his plans this season.

Barcelona – needing to cut their wage bill in order to register new signing Dani Olmo – decided they would allow Gundogan to leave the club without seeking a transfer fee in order to facilitate his departure.

According to the Daily Mail, getting rid of Gundogan would free up €14 million (£12m) in the club’s fair play budget, and would allow Barcelona to reinvest 70 per cent of these savings into new signings.

On Wednesday the Athletic reported that Gundogan and City have reached a full agreement on a one-year contract with the option of a second year.

In order to make the deal work, Gundogan has written off the remaining two years of his Barcelona contract and the salary that he would have been owed by the club.

According to Spanish outlet AS, the midfielder was earning €10m per year before tax in Catalonia. By forgoing the remaining two years of his deal, Gundogan will miss out on €20m before tax, around £17m.

That said, he’s probably not going to miss out on too much money. Gundogan was reportedly earning around £140,000 per week before he left City a year ago, but it’s unclear how much his new deal will be worth.