Gundogan: Manchester City are bigger than Bayern Munich

Manchester City have made a huge impression on Ilkay Gundogan, who is confident he is at a bigger club than Bayern Munich.

Gundogan joined City for a fee reported to be in the region of £20million from Borussia Dortmund in June, though a knee injury delayed his first-team debut until September.

The Germany international has since firmly established himself in Pep Guardiola’s midfield, the highlight of his time at the club being a double in the 3-1 Champions League victory over Barcelona last week.

Having settled in to his new surroundings, Gundogan feels the scale of ambition on show at the Etihad Stadium is unmatched in the Bundesliga.

“When I come to the training centre by car, it’s already very impressive. Not even Bayern can compare with this, it’s in a different league,” he said in an interview with Kicker.

“You can see that you have arrived at a worldwide club that wants big things and wants to develop great things in the next few years.

“Accordingly, the pressure and responsibility on individual players is profound. It’s something different to Dortmund.

“It is clear here that you are striving for the supreme. The expectation is extremely high because of the transfers and because of Pep, who is the personification of success.”

Gundogan missed Germany’s triumphant 2014 World Cup campaign due to a back injury, but with Joachim Low having extended his contract with the national team until 2018 he is optimistic over future chances of success.

He added: “It is a great sign. I believe that he has done extremely successful work in the past years and I hope there are many more successful years to come.

“The team is undergoing a little change, there are new talents and it’s extremely exciting.”