Will Gundogan suit the PL?

Ilkay Gundogan has become Pep Guardiola’s first signing at Manchester City – but what will he bring to the Premier League?

The signing of 25-year-old midfielder Gundogan was announced on Thursday morning, on a four-year deal for a fee understood to be £21m.

So with a move secured, what could we expect from Gundogan in England?

Factfile

Age: 25Date of Birth: 24/10/1990Nationality: GermanClub: Borussia DortmundPosition: MidfielderHeight: 5ft 11in (180cm)Weight: 12st 4lb (79kg)Preferred Foot: Right

Climbing the ladder

Now one of Europe’s premier midfielders, Gundogan worked his way to the top, serving apprenticeships in VfL Bochum’s reserve team and FC Nurnberg.

In the fourth Bundesliga game of his career, a teenage Gundogan more than matched Bayern Munich’s Bastian Schweinsteiger, serving notice of his considerable potential.

And with almost 50 league appearances under his belt before his 21st birthday, Dortmund’s Klopp came calling. He initially struggled to replace Nuri Sahin, the Bundesliga Player of the season had departed for Real Madrid, and was briefly benched. “It was a tough time,” he admitted. “Things hadn’t gone as well as I had thought, and the coach was right to take me out of the team and protect me.”

But the new recruit soon won back his place, slotting in alongside Shinji Kagawa, Mario Gotze and Kevin Grosskruetz, making 28 league appearances in his first campaign.

Dortmund success

With three goals and as many assists in that debut season, Gundogan, alongside team-mates Kagawa and Mats Hummels, was named in Kicker’s Team of the Year.

Dortmund strolled to their fifth Bundesliga title and second in as many …

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