Pep Guardiola gives latest on Ilkay Gundogan’s future at Man City & offers Arsenal prediction

Pep Guardiola has said Ilkay Gundogan’s future is ‘up to him and his agent’ as the German international enters the final few months of his contract at Manchester City.

The midfielder became Guardiola’s first City signing in 2016 and has gone on to make nearly 300 appearances for the club. But his time in the Premier League could be drawing to a close, with Gundogan’s contract set to expire at the end of the campaign.

The 32-year-old has been linked with a free transfer to Barcelona or Bayern Munich in recent months, and speaking ahead of Saturday’s clash against Nottingham Forest, Guardiola seemed to imply he would like his captain to remain in Manchester beyond the summer.

“I think I know my opinion about it okay. What Ilkay has done against Aston VIlla [on the final day of] last season he can do whatever he wants,” joked the City boss. “So he knows exactly my opinion about him. The club knows it and it is a question for him and his agent.

“What is going to happen I’m pretty sure is going to be good for him. Really we want how he is behaving how he has behaved all his life in Manchester, but what is going to happen? This kind of thing belongs to the club and the player.”

Gundogan was among the scorers last week against Villa and set up Jack Grealish for his goal against Arsenal on Wednesday night. A 3-1 victory at the Emirates saw City move back to the league’s summit, but Guardiola feels the Gunners will respond to their recent setback of failing to win in four successive games.

“It’s important to be there, close to the end of the season, and have the feeling that still we are there. We drop but we are still at the top more or less. We nearly reach this season [to drop a lot], because Arsenal were unstoppable in the first leg and I know how good they are.

“We won [on Wednesday] but we felt how strong they are. I saw against Everton and Brentford, I felt they are still there.We won the game but they are there - and they will be there. We cannot be confused.

“Just because in the last four games [Arsenal] didn’t win, I didn’t have the feeling they don’t follow Mikel [Arteta] or are disappointed at the lack of results. Still they are alive and will be alive until the end of the season. That’s why we have to continue.”