Gundogan move no surprise to former team-mates

Ilkay Gundogan’s move to Manchester City is no surprise to former Borussia Dortmund team-mates Mats Hummels and Julian Weigl.

The Premier League club confirmed their first major signing for the upcoming season on Thursday, completing a deal worth a reported £20million.

Hummels has himself sorted a switch to Dortmund’s arch-rivals Bayern Munich and said he was happy to see Gundogan get the move he had wanted for some time, despite a horrible run with injuries last season.

“We all knew for some time that this is what he wanted,” he said.

“I am happy for him that it worked out now, because he decided that he wants to do it and his injury kind of questioned this again.

“So I hope for him that he made a good decision and especially that he will be fit again soon.

“Because if you’re not fit it doesn’t matter where you are: you won’t play anyway.”

Weigl said he too was happy to see Gundogan get the move of his dreams on a personal level, but admitted it was a blow to Dortmund to lose such an influential midfield figure.

“Of course Ilkay was a really important team member. I played pretty well with him next to me. It fitted really well,” he said.

“So of course it’s a loss to our team. But we knew for quite some time that he thought about moving to another club.

“We played without him good as well. But it is sad that he has taken this path.

“Everybody needs to make his own choices. He wants to make the next step. Dortmund will be prepared I hope.”