As of now, there have been no indications that Gundogan’s contract will be extended. Bayern Munich and, more recently, Barcelona have been heavily linked as potential suitors for the Germany international.
Despite questions over his future, Gundogan is still City’s captain and a regular starter for Guardiola, who was unable to hide his adoration for the 32-year-old.
“I think I know my opinion about Ilkay. What Ilkay has done against Aston Villa last season [scoring two late goals to seal the Premier League title] he can do whatever he wants,” Guardiola said. “He has the paradise already. 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 things belongs to the club and the player.”
Gundogan’s agency meeting with Blaugrana director Jordi Cruyff recently increased links to Barcelona, but director of football Mateu Alemany has acknowledged the genuine purposes of the meeting were much less dramatic.
“My obligation is to know that Gundogan is free, and we have met with his uncle, who is also [Andreas] Christensen’s agent,” Alemany told Sport.
“We talked about Christensen, his performance and how happy we are with the player. He has been a very good signing, but there was nothing else.”
