Leading Barcelona star ‘considering’ contract offer from Qatar

A headline member of the midfield ranks at La Liga giants Barcelona is giving genuine consideration to a summer move to Qatar.

That’s according to Mundo Deportivo, citing ESport3, who point towards İlkay Gündoğan as the player in question.

Gündoğan, for his part, is of course fresh off a stellar debut campaign in Barcelona’s colours.

After linking up with Xavi’s troops on a free transfer from Manchester City, the German international quickly went on to establish himself as an integral member of the Blaugrana’s midfield setup.

In fact, many would no doubt argue that, across the length of the campaign, Gündoğan stood as Barca’s most consistent performer.

All told, the 33-year-old racked up a hefty 51 appearances across all competitions, chipping in with five goals and a team-leading 14 assists along the way.

Recent reports in the media, pointing towards the Camp Nou brass giving consideration to Gündoğan’s sale, therefore came as a major surprise.

As alluded to above, though, if the latest update on the situation to have surfaced on Monday is anything to go by, then a parting of ways is seemingly being contemplated by the player himself, too.

As per MD:

‘Ilkay Gündogan (33 years old) would be considering an important offer from Al-Sadd of Qatar to change teams this summer.’

Al-Sadd, it is claimed, have offered a three-year contract to Gündoğan, featuring a predictably life-changing pay packet.

Entering the twilight years of his stellar career, the experienced midfielder, as a result, is mulling over bringing a close to his time in Barcelona’s colours after just a solitary year.

Conor Laird | GSFN