Dortmund in Gundogan plea
Print Edition
BORUSSIA Dortmund has told injury-hit Manchester City target Ilkay Gundogan to either leave at the end of the season or sign a long-term contract extension.
After Bayern Munich announced on Tuesday it has signed Dortmund captain Mats Hummels on a five-year deal, the Ruhr Valley club is looking to keep hold of its other stars as it plans for next season when Dortmund will be back in the UEFA Champions League.
Midfielders Gundogan and Henrikh Mkhitaryan have been linked to Premier League clubs with City and Chelsea, respectively, reported to be interested.
Gundogan’s agent met City director of sport Txiki Begiristain in Amsterdam in March and reports in the German media say the deal is set to be finalized at the end of the season.
But the situation has been complicated after Gundogan, who has a year left on his current Dortmund contract, dislocated his knee in training last week. The injury has ruled him out of next month’s European championships in France with Germany and no date has been given as to when he can play again.
“I have spoken to him, he’s very down after another serious injury. He knows we’ll stand by him,” Dortmund’s CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke told local daily Ruhr Nachrichten.
“There are two options, which we have discussed with Ilkay for a while.
“Either he leaves or he stays and extends his contract, but it must be long-term.”
Gundogan is injury prone and missed most of the 2013-14 season, including Germany’s World Cup triumph, with a persistent back injury.
In recent seasons, he has only signed year-long extensions, but Dortmund now wants a longer commitment while Watzke says discussions with Mkhitaryan are still ongoing.
Meanwhile, Hummels will play his final league game for Dortmund at home to Cologne on Saturday and Watzke says the farewell will have to be handled sensitively.
The Germany center-back is the latest Dortmund star, after Mario Goetze and Robert Lewandowski, to join Bayern.
Austrian international Aleksandar Dragovic at Dynamo Kiev has, meanwhile, expressed an interest in joining Dortmund while Germany defender Shkodran Mustafi at Valencia and Real Madrid’s Raphael Varane are also reportedly on the club’s wish list.
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