İlkay Gündoğan’s difficult Manchester City return

Last summer, after just one season at Barcelona, İlkay Gündoğan rejoined Manchester City on a free transfer.

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This was widely considered to be a shrewd piece of business, with former Chelsea and Aston Villa midfielder Andy Townsend labelling this a “smart” move.

Meantime, Elias Burke and Anantaajith Raghuraman of the Athletic described the German international as one of Guardiola’s ‘most reliable servants’, forecasting he would continue to be ‘influential’ and that the signing was a complete ‘no-brainer’.

However, things have not transpired this way, with Guardiola himself describing Gündoğan’s performance against Newcastle in September as “one of the worst” he has seen from him.

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Meanwhile, speaking during Sky Sports’ coverage, Jamie Redknapp slammed the German for not doing the basics during Man City’s 4-0 mauling at the hands of Spurs, stating “I think Gündoğan has really struggled… to deal with the intensity of this match.”

So, let’s assess how Gündoğan’s statistics compare this season to his most recent campaign at the club, prior to his move to Barça.