According to commentator Craig Burley, Manchester City will be able to function without Ilkay Gundogan in their lineup the following year.
After his contract at the Etihad Stadium expired earlier this week, the club announced that the midfielder would sign with Barcelona as a free agent.
One commentator has since shared his opinions on this departure and what it might mean for Pep Guardiola’s team.
Pundit believes City can survive without Gundogan.
Burley recently made the following comments about Gundogan and how City will move forward without him in a video posted to the ESPN FC YouTube channel.
He said: “Gundogan is a fantastic player, but I think City figure out a way. ‘Ah, Vincent Kompany is leaving, how are we going to cope?'” They recruited while coping.
“David Silva, Fernando Silva, he handled it. You might remember Sergio Aguero, who was competent at scoring goals.
“And I believe City will find a solution because of those reasons. They don’t have another Gundogan who can score goals and play smart with the ball, but they’ll figure something out.
The 32-year-old played 304 times for the Citizens in all competitions while he was a member of the Manchester club, contributing to 40 assists, scoring 60 goals, and taking home many other honours, including most recently the Triple as Captain.
The club officially announced Mateo Kovacic’s arrival from Chelsea on a four-year deal worth a reported £30 million the next day after the German’s departure was made public.
This could be viewed as City’s example of finding a suitable Gundogan replacement, as Burley suggested.
This demonstrates the premier league experience the Croatian will be able to offer his new team and may make it simpler for him to adapt to life at the club. He made 221 appearances for Chelsea.
Future events will determine whether Burley’s prediction that the European champions can manage without their captain turns out to be true and whether Kovacic is able to fill the void left by Gundogan.
