İlkay Gündoğan

Early career

Gündoğan was born in Gelsenkirchen to Turkish parents. His grandfather moved from Balıkesir, Turkey, to the Ruhr region of Germany. Gündoğan moved from VfL Bochum to 1. FC Nürnberg in 2009. In his fourth Bundesliga match, on 19 September 2009, away against Bayern Munich, he made his first assist. His first goal for the side came on 20 February 2010 in a home match, again against Bayern.

Borussia Dortmund

On 5 May 2011, it was announced that Gündoğan had signed a four-year contract with Borussia Dortmund, for a fee of around €4 million. He made his debut on 23 July in the DFL-Supercup against Schalke 04. After a goalless draw at the Veltins-Arena, he scored their first attempt in the penalty shootout, although Kevin Großkreutz and Ivan Perišić missed to hand Schalke the victory.

On 17 December, he scored his first goal for Dortmund in a 4–1 victory away to SC Freiburg. He played once for the club's reserves on 22 February 2012, being replaced at half time by Rico Benatelli in an eventual 2–1 win over 1. FC Kaiserslautern II at the Stadion Rote Erde. On 20 March, Gündoğan scored a 120th-minute goal to defeat Greuther Fürth and send Dortmund into the final of the DFB-Pokal. He played the entire final on 12 May, a 5–2 victory over Bayern which gave Dortmund their first domestic double.

In the 2012–13 season, Gündoğan was one of the central figures of Borussia Dortmund as they reached the final of UEFA Champions League. He was praised for his play in two semi-final games against Real Madrid. On 25 May 2013, he scored the equaliser from the penalty spot in the 69th minute to keep Dortmund's hopes alive against Bayern Munich in the 2013 UEFA Champions League Final played at Wembley Stadium, London. This was his first penalty kick in a game for Dortmund. Bayern went on to win the game 2–1.

On 27 July 2013, Gündoğan scored a goal when he won the 2013 DFL-Supercup with Dortmund 4–2 against rivals Bayern Munich. In August, a back injury while on international duty required surgery, which eventually ruled him out for a full year. In April 2014, he signed a new contract, to keep him at the club until 2016.

On 28 April 2015, he and Sebastian Kehl scored in a penalty shootout victory over Bayern which sent Dortmund into the DFB-Pokal Final. Two days later, it was announced that he and Borussia Dortmund would not be working together after his contract runs out on 30 July 2016. On 1 July 2015, he signed a contract extension to keep him at the club until 2017.

Manchester City

On 2 June 2016, Gündoğan signed a four-year contract at Manchester City, for an estimated fee of £20 million. He was the club's first signing under former Bayern manager Pep Guardiola. He made his debut on 14 September, playing for the first time in four months in a Champions League group stage game at home to Borussia Mönchengladbach. City won 4–0, and he won a penalty which was converted by Sergio Agüero. Three days later, Gündoğan started and scored with a low right foot shot against Bournemouth in a 4–0 win at the City of Manchester Stadium. He scored a brace and set up an Agüero goal against West Bromwich Albion in a 4–0 win at The Hawthorns on 29 October 2016. He continued his run of form by bagging another brace against FC Barcelona in a 3–1 win at home in the group stages of the Champions League. On 14 December, in a league game against Watford Gündoğan was substituted in the 44th minute with knee ligament damage, with Guardiola stating that he would be out for several months. It was later confirmed that Gündoğan tore his cruciate ligaments in his right knee and would miss the rest of the season.

International career

After years of playing for the different youth teams, Gündoğan received his first call-up to the German senior side in August 2011 for a friendly match against Brazil, but did not feature in the game. On 11 October, he made his debut for Germany after coming on as a substitute for captain Philipp Lahm for the last six minutes of the 3–1 win against Belgium in a UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying match at the Esprit Arena in Düsseldorf.

In May 2012, he was selected by manager Joachim Löw for the German 23-man squad for UEFA Euro 2012 and was given the number two shirt. Germany reached the semi-finals, but Gündoğan did not play.

On 26 March 2013, Gündoğan scored his first goal for Germany in a 4–1 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifier against Kazakhstan at the Frankenstadion in Nuremberg. He scored his second goal in his next match, a friendly on 14 August at the Fritz-Walter-Stadion in Kaiserslautern, as Germany came from 0–2 down to draw 3–3 against Paraguay. However, he was taken off with a back injury in this match, ruling him out for a whole year, meaning he would miss the 2014 World Cup, which Germany would go on to win.

Gündoğan returned to international football in a 2–2 friendly with Australia on 25 March 2015. He participated in the UEFA Euro 2016 qualification campaign, scoring in a 7–0 away win over Gibraltar on 14 June 2015 and a 3–2 win against Scotland at Hampden Park on 7 September 2015.

On 6 May 2016, it was announced that Gündoğan would be unable to participate at the UEFA Euro 2016 finals due to injury.

Style of play

Jürgen Klopp, his former coach at Borussia Dortmund, described Gündoğan as an "intelligent and complete midfielder with numerous strengths". Although he had a tough start at Dortmund, where he admitted that "things hadn't gone as well as I had thought", his "willingness to learn" and "great attitude", according to Klopp, have allowed him to play a pivotal role in his later career at the club. He was able to fit into Dortmund's explosive playing style "by combining creativity and outstanding passing with the defensive attributes and tireless energy needed".

Personal life

Gündoğan's cousin Naz Aydemir is a volleyball player for Vakıfbank and the Turkish women's national team.

Club

International goals

Scores and results list Germany's goal tally first

Club

Individual