da betsson： This article is part of Football FanCast’s In Numbers series, which takes a statistical look at performances, season-long form and reported transfer targets…
da bwin： When you’re consistently playing first-team football for Manchester City, particularly in the truly competitive midfield position, you know you must be one decent player.
Since arriving from Borussia Dortmund in the summer of 2016 for a fee around £20m, Ilkay Gundogan hasn’t exactly enjoyed the same kind of adulation or accolades as some of his other high-profile teammates. The likes of Kevin De Bruyne, David Silva and Bernardo Silva, amongst others, have understandably been more prominent in the spotlight, but that doesn’t mean the 28-year-old is significantly worse than any of them.
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In fact, City boss Pep Guardiola has publicly revealed he values the former Dortmund man incredibly, and paid the most remarkable of compliments about the midfielder.
“You cannot believe how good he is. He is an exceptional player. He can play in different positions, with his work ethic. I missed him a lot in our first year here when after a few months an ACL ruled him out for more than six months. He is exceptional. He is one of the best signings in this club’s history.”
After the side’s shock 2-0 defeat to Wolves in the Premier League last time out, some City fans voiced their frustrations over Gundogan, and Guardiola’s continued insistence on playing him (the 28-year-old has featured in every game barring the 8-0 thrashing of Watford this season).
However, whilst away on international duty, the midfielder delivered the type of performance that well and truly silenced the haters, and vindicated Guardiola’s continued faith in him.
Coming up against Estonia in EURO 2020 qualifying action, the 5 foot 11 ace ran the show for Germany from the first minute to the last. What made the performance just that more impressive, was that Emre Can got himself sent off after 14 minutes of the contest.
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Despite the side being down to ten men, Gundogan controlled the tempo of the match from the middle of the park, registering a truly incredible 181 touches, and 148 passes. To put that into context, that was both double the amount that any Estonia player managed. But perhaps most intriguingly, the 28-year-old came up with two goals and an assist as he made more runs further forward.
In contrast at City, he has managed just one goal and one assist this season. Whilst Gundogan will undoubtedly be pleased with his own performance, it will be Guardiola who will be grinning from ear to ear. He may just be getting the best of the German maestro at the time his team most need it.