As was expected from a player of his quality, Ilkay Gundogan has established himself at FC Barcelona since arriving at the club only in the last summer transfer window. The player had an instant impact on Xavi’s team, as he is one of the most played players in the first half of this season.
However, at Barcelona, the German has been in the news for more than just his role on the pitch. His comments after the defeat against Real Madrid were highly critical of the team, and the entire club was impacted by these comments where he criticized Xavi’s team for a lack of leadership and anger.
Hamann speaks out against Gundogan
Now, as SPORT has reported, the German himself is now on the receiving end of criticism, this time mainly for his captaincy of the German national team.
The former Germany international, Dietmar Hamann has questioned Julian Nagelsmann’s decision to make Gundogan the captain and claimed that his captaincy can even hurt the team in the EURO 2024.
One of the reasons Hamann had against Gundogan’s taking the armband was his lack of suitability to the German national team:
“Gundogan played excellently at City, a team that has eighty percent of the ball. There, he was able to exploit his qualities, but Germany has a different style of play. We’re not as dominant.”
Gundogan’s captaincy can hurt youngsters
Hamann went on to criticize Gundogan’s performances with Germany, and also claimed his captaincy will hinder younger player’s development in the team:
“Adding everything up, maybe ten out of his seventy international matches have been good. If you name him captain, you lose opportunities. He needs to play further ahead, but we have Musiala and Wirtz there. Both of them need to play. Sané and Gnabry also need to play with their speed and class. It could now happen that some of them might have to be on the bench.”
Thus, the former Bayern Munich, Newcastle, Liverpool, and Manchester City midfielder is not too happy with Germany’s choice of their captain.
However, despite his opinion, Gundogan still remains one of the best midfielders in the world, and his quality and leadership were there to be seen only last season when he captained Manchester City to win every possible trophy.
