Barcelona’s Ilkay Gundogan has explained his reasons for leaving Manchester City on a free transfer this summer.

Whilst on international duty the goalscoring midfielder, 32, admitted in an interview with German newspaper Bild that if the Cityzens had arranged new contract talks earlier in the summer then he may have made a different decision.

Ilkay Gundogan does not regret choosing Barca

The German international said, “City waited a relatively long time until the talks really intensified. If this had happened a little earlier, the situation would have been different.” As last season’s City skipper, Gundogan went on to become only the second player in English football history to lift a historic treble as captain.

Gundogan went on to confirm that he was still happy he chose to move to Barcelona and admitted he still remains attached to the Cityzens despite leaving.

“So far, I’ve watched almost every game of my former club on TV,” Gundogan said.

Gundogan also revealed that he spoke to Pep Guardiola to inform him of his plans after the Champions League final in “the hardest phone call” of his life. “Unfortunately, I didn’t say goodbye in person because I only made the decision after the Champions League final, two days before the DFB game against Colombia.

“In the end, it was the perfect ending. It couldn’t have come at a better time. It was also my childhood dream to play for Barcelona”.