Ilkay Gundogan has finally agreed to move to Barcelona this summer as a free agent from Manchester City. Despite City’s resistance to offload him, the Treble winners couldn’t convince him of a two-year deal. On the other hand, Barcelona offered him a three-year deal, which was accepted by the representatives of the Germany International.

After going through the greatest domestic season of his career, we expect Gundogan to add steel and experience to Barcelona’s midfield. After all, the Catalans need that after the departure of Sergio Busquets this summer. But the main question is, where do we expect Gundogan to play in Xavi’s team?

Xavi usually goes with a traditional 4-3-3 formation. Hence, we can expect to see Gundogan as one of the three midfielders. At Manchester City, Pep Guardiola used to play the former Borussia Dortmund man between Kevin de Bruyne and Rodri. We expect him to play a deeper role in Barcelona alongside Pedri and Frenkie de Jong.

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Gundogan and de Jong will play in a pivot, allowing Pedri to go forward and pick passes for his attackers. With the versatility of de Jong and Gundogan, Barcelona can also rotate from double pivot to single pivot. Both of these midfielders can also bombard forward and connect with their attacking players.

Gundogan scored six goals in his last seven appearances for Manchester City, including a brace in the FA Cup final against Manchester United. He also scored the Premier League-winning goal for Guardiola’s men in the 2021/22 Premier League season. The versatility of the Germany International could create confusion among the opponent midfielders.

Returning to the normal formation, Gundogan is expected to play deep with de Jong. Pedri playing on the shoulder of Robert Lewandowski could generate even more goals from the Poland captain.