"IT'S THE BEST CLUB IN THE WORLD" | Ilkay Gundogan returns to Manchester City!

Ilkay, I can't believe we're saying this, but welcome back to Manchester City. Thank you. Just give us a feeling of how you feel being back at the CFA today. I'm incredibly happy. Happy to see the teammates, the staff, people that I had seven years, an amazing time with, a very successful time with. Many ups, a few downs, but in general an incredible experience. When you leave this place, like I did last year, you spend a year away, you then start to appreciate the place even more. You realise what you had, you realise how amazing that time was, you realise how big the club is, the best club in the world. I think in terms of football, getting back onto that level and coming back now, a year later, is an incredible feeling. I am very pleased, I am very happy. I feel privileged to share the dressing room again with these amazing players. What were some of the main factors that helped you to make this decision? Obviously, the seven years I had here, in my first spell, they played a big role. Getting to know this amazing club, getting to know the people working here, being behind everything. Of course, also the friendships that you made and the memories that you had. By saying that, I don't want it to sound too nostalgic, to be honest, because I don't want that time to be remembered as, OK, that wasn't the past, but it's still about competing, it's still about having that drive, it's still about trying to be the best version of yourself. That's all an ambition that I still have incredibly much in myself, even though maybe being now 33 years old. But I still want to prove myself every day in training sessions and games, and still become the best possible version of myself. I still have an incredible sense for winning, for competing. I think the package that you get here, right now, today, you can't find it anywhere else. That made it for me, to be honest, very easy to come back. In terms of your fitness and match sharpness, where would you say you are at this stage? Are you ready to play again in the Premier League immediately? I played a lot of games last season, to be honest. I think in terms of minutes, you can't really play much more. I think that also proves somehow that I am already on an age where you get a lot of breaks, but I still feel very competitive and I still feel ready to go. I love the Premier League, it's the best league in the world, and being able to compete in that league again is just a joy. Did you get a chance to watch much of City last season, and if so, what did you make of us? Of course, I tried to follow all the games that I was able to watch. The standards that are set, they are obvious. The football that Man City is playing last year, the years before, it's always on the highest level. That's not just my opinion, I think that's also the opinion of a lot of people in the football industry in general. This is the target for the teams to get there, where Man City is in terms of football. Being able now to be back and to play on that highest level and to compete again is a privilege. Hopefully, I can contribute in this season to be more successful than last season. That's always the target. You've had some time now to reflect on your final season at City, apart from your first time when you captained us to the treble. Just give us a feeling of what it's like knowing that you've been part of something that's so historic. Well, it's difficult to describe the feeling, to be honest. I can't really say pride, because it's difficult for me to explain how it feels to be proud. But what stays with me in general are the memories, the moments that you share with your teammates, with the people in the club together, at the training ground, on the training pitch, travelling. There are so many memories from that treble season that are in my mind. Just the time you spent together, the laughs inside the dressing room, the banter. Of course, lifting the trophy is always an achievement and you feel like, well, you achieved here really something special. But the way to get there is much more special for me. The feelings that you have throughout the whole journey are much more special. I want that feeling back. I want to have this feeling back, this togetherness inside the team. While you've been away, we've sealed even more history, making it four Premier League titles in a row. This is a level of consistency that's unheard of, certainly in English football. How are CT doing this? By consistently trying to put the bar just a little bit higher, and try to be, as I said before, every single day the best possible version of yourself. That starts on the training pitch, but then goes also what's happening off the pitch, which has obviously a big influence also on everyone. We have the best people working here, and that's why this football club is so successful. Why not make it five? You met up with some of the guys in pre-season when we were in Orlando and we played Barcelona. Everyone was really happy to see you. What was that like for you to bump into a few of our players? It was nice. Throughout the last year, I was in touch with a lot of players, obviously staff, with Pep, communicating on a regular basis to be honest, and of course following the games. It was really nice to see everyone in person again, or most of the people in person again, because still some players were not there. It was really nice to be with them, to talk, to spend some time in the dressing room of theirs, at the game, having the opportunity. It was amazing, and to be honest with you, back then it was not even a topic to come back and rejoin. Everything happened quite quickly in the last couple of days, so I was not really thinking about it, or it was not really an opportunity. But maybe that made it even more special and even more fulfilling for me. I know Pep admires you greatly. After a year away from working with him, you probably had time to think and reflect a little bit on his methods and man-management skills. Can you just give us a feeling of why he is so good at his job and why he is so special as a coach? He is just tactically a genius. He has all sorts of solutions for every probability in the game, for everything that is happening on the pitch. He can give you a solution in just a very short amount of time. On top of that, I think in terms of managing a big dressing room like we have here is never easy, with so many personalities, with so many ambitious players that want to start every game. To manage that is also very important, to try to keep everyone happy. But he is also demanding. If you don't follow, if you are slightly off the gas in training sessions, you will not play, because there are others who can replace you and who have a lot of quality. So I think that keeps everyone on their toes and driven and doing their best. That's very special about this club in general. We took a very young squad to the US on pre-season with quite a lot of academy players there. What do you make of the quality of young players that Manchester City is producing these days? I think it's obvious. When you look at where some academy products are playing right now, which teams they got transferred to, what kind of player we have also still in our own team, like Phil Foner, who just won every possible individual trophy last year. It just shows you that there is no limit for our academy players. There is a lot of talent and I think these talents can be very happy that we have someone like Pep also in the first team who can coach them, who can even teach them much more and give them so much, whether they stay here or whether they leave. From what I've seen also in my time, in the seven years that I was here, that there's a lot of good people also working in the academy. When I did my coaching batches, I was able to visit the academy, to visit the teams and join in a few training sessions. Again, you need the best people to get the best out of the players. That's a factor of our academy. One player I did want to ask you about was Rodri. He's just had another amazing season. You've obviously played with him before, you've played against him. How much are you looking forward to playing on the same side as him again? Because he's operating on a very, very high level, isn't he? On the highest level, I would say. Maybe he doesn't get so much credit because he's playing a position that doesn't score assists or is not so much on the score sheet all the time. But for me, he's one of the best players right now in the world. Not just because he won so many trophies, especially recently. Also because he's so smart. He doesn't make any mistakes. He's always there. He's barely injured. He plays all the games and all the games on such a high level. And on top of that, he's a great guy. He's a very great guy. He's humble. He's down to earth. He's just an amazing person. That combination, I think, makes him irreplaceable. If there's someone in our team right now that is irreplaceable, for me it's definitely Rodri. He's such an important puzzle piece. He deserves to be named with the best players in the world, definitely. You recently announced your international retirement. That must have been a difficult decision for you. Can you explain why you decided to take that step? Well, the last few years have been very intense. I think it was the right time for me. After the Euros, having our home country in Germany, even though in terms of success on the pitch, we were not that successful. But I feel like we had a great atmosphere on the team. Also, leading the team by being the captain in that tournament was a big honour for me. But with the amount of games coming up, with the intensity of the last years, I just felt like it's the right moment for me, also to spare a little bit more time for the family, for my little one. Because you have to imagine when there's an international break, you play on a Saturday or Sunday, and then you have to go straight, you have maybe one night at home, and you have to go straight to the national team. And then you are ten days away, you come back, and you go almost straight back into training. So you have to sacrifice a lot of time. That could be also time for the family, especially when you have kids, I think it's even more important. And in my age, I think right now, in the situation that I am, I think it's the right decision. Of course it's sad, because one chapter ends. But I'm looking forward for the future, and I am happy and at peace with my decision right now. Happy to spend also a bit more time with family. Away from the field, are there things that you missed about Manchester and that you're looking forward to engaging with again? Yes, believe it or not, but I have also friends outside of football in Manchester, and actually a lot of people in the last couple of days, they messaged me and they asked me if the rumours are true, and a lot of people I didn't answer yet, to be honest, because it was not done, and we were still working on it. So obviously there are a lot of people in Manchester that I know, and I'm really looking forward to see everyone again, and to meet everyone again, to go for coffees in the city centre. As you may know, I live in the city centre, so it's quite easy to walk out, to go for a coffee, which we love to do as a family, to be honest, and I hope the weather is well enough and not so rainy that we will be able to do that. But I'm really looking forward. I arrived yesterday in my old new apartment, I kept it throughout the whole year, and we arrived there yesterday, and honestly, it felt like home immediately. I was just happy to be there and to relax and be balanced, and yeah, it was a joy. I can't believe you decided to take the number 19 shirt, which obviously used to be occupied by your friend and former international teammate Leroy Sane. Was there any reason for 19? A little bit, there was a little bit of thinking behind it. Obviously, number 21 and 22 were free as well, and I was last year 22 in Barcelona, I was 21 in the German national team, but I didn't win any trophies with these numbers, so I thought, OK, number 19 is between 18 and 20, between my two friends, Bernardo Silva and Stefan Ortega, so that might be a sign, you know? And I just went for it, so let's see. It's hopefully not the number that will have a big influence, it will be the way I am playing, the way I am behaving, and the way we will be as a team, and I can assure you that we will try our best to win a lot. I'm sure you've seen in the last few days that the City fans on social media and across the internet have been kind of beside themselves with excitement. Have you got a message for the City fans as you sit here today? Well, I'm very thankful, I'm very grateful. I feel privileged, you know, to be back. I had an incredible time here, I hope my time from right now will be just even better, I promise I will do my best, you know, to be even better than I was. But it feels just so nice to be home, you know, and I'm really thankful for the welcome, because I'm normally not that type of guy who looks so much into social media. But, you know, when something like that is closed and the people start to talk about it, and, I mean, the reality also is that I left last year, you know, so there could be a lot of people that say, OK, he left, we don't want him back, or whatever, you know. But I read a little bit, and, you know, like, 99.9% was just amazing and positive, you know, and people wishing me to come back, and then on top of that also the messages that I got here from Manchester, from the people here in Manchester, were just all so positive, you know, and it just showed me that this decision is just so right, and it feels also so right, to be honest, that I'm just happy to be here right now. There's a lot of love for you, OK, so everyone at City is delighted you're back, and congratulations on being here, and good luck for the season. Thank you so much, thank you. Thank you.