New Manchester City acquisition Ilkay Gundogan has claimed that he almost joined cross-town rivals Manchester United last summer.
Gundogan recently joined Pep Guardiola’s men in blue from German giants Borussia Dortmund on a four-year deal for a £20m fee.
The 25-year-old, who is currently recovering from a dislocated knee-cap, missed 12 Bundesliga games for Thomas Tuchel’s men last season due to injuries and illnesses, making 25 Bundesliga appearances for BVB.
The emergence of youngster Julian Weigl ended up limiting Gundogan’s presence on the pitch, apart from injury problems, as the German missed the ongoing Euro 2016 along with Dortmund team-mate Marco Reus.
Gundogan, who was born to Turkish parents, has revealed that he came close to joining Manchester United last summer, before he penned a new contract with Dortmund.
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He was quoted as saying by Sport360: "Maybe last year it was close, but not everything happened like I wanted it to.
"Maybe it was not the right moment and at the end we decided to stay and renew my contract, to extend for one more year.
"We always had the conversation with Dortmund and agreed that if I left, I will not leave for free, for zero.
"So I renewed my contract and now this year everyone is lucky and happy how it came to an end."
Gundogan is among Manchester City’s four new signings of the summer, which includes Nolito, young Oleksandr Zinchenko and Australian star Aaron Mooy, who has been loaned out to Championship club Huddersfield town.
