Pep Guardiola has admitted that Ilkay Gundogan needs to be convinced his future lies at Manchester City as the midfielder not yet “100 per cent” on signing a new contract.
Gundogan’s existing terms at the Etihad expire in the summer of 2020, with negotiations over a new deal ongoing and the club keen to extend his stay.
But the 28-year-old is not a bona fide member of Guardiola’s first-choice starting line-up and is yet to agree to renewed terms
Gundogan was Guardiola’s first City signing and is currently providing cover in holding midfield for the injured Fernandinho.
Guardiola said on Friday that Gundogan is an “incredibly important player” but maintained that any decision on his future will be down to the player himself.
“I think Gundo, in the first season he couldn’t play because of a tough injury, six or seven months out,” Guardiola said.
“But always when he was able to play a lot of games he is an incredibly important player.
“He knows what we want, he knows what we think about him but it’s the same as other cases like we said in the past: at the end, the last decision is not in our hands.
“We try to speak with him, we want him to extend the contract right now. Yesterday would have been better than today, and today better than tomorrow.
“But if he doesn’t want to, we cannot do anything else.”
When asked what Gundogan wants in order to renew his terms, Guardiola said: “If he [was] 100 per cent then the deal would have been done. We are still in negotiations.”
