A lot has been made of FC Barcelona and the way the club has been run in recent years. Ever since the return and appointment of Joan Laporta as president of the club, a lot of controversy has been noted. Both for the media and fans alike, Barcelona has not exactly been a perfect model of anything.
Beyond just their financial decisions and setbacks, the club has perplexed most people with its sporting direction as well. First came the signing of Dani Olmo, a player who definitely possesses the quality to win games for the team but was initially not needed and other positions have remained unattended as a result.
Then, and perhaps the most seemingly unjustifiable move, was the transfer of German veteran Ilkay Gundogan back to Manchester City literally a year after his signing for Barcelona. Moreover, despite still having some years left on his contract, the player was allowed to leave on a free transfer.
Now, as highlighted by Fabrizio Romano, the FC Barcelona president himself has addressed the topic publicly and revealed the reason behind letting Ilkay Gundogan leave this summer: “It has been a decision solely and exclusively for sporting reasons.”
He further added that the signing of Dani Olmo was directly associated with letting Gundogan leave given that both players shared a similar role and the German’s place in the team was no longer a certainty:
“Following the signing of Dani Olmo, the role of Gundogan was not clear, because they shared a very similar position.”
However, Laporta continues to send positive words towards Gundogan and had some nice things to say about him as well despite only having had the player for a season at Barcelona: “He’s an excellent person and player.”
With this information, it is clear to see that Laporta has his own way of addressing these problems. Despite the fact that Ilkay Gundogan himself highlighted possible financial reasons in his departure note to the Barcelona fans, the club president seems to suggest that it was solely a sporting decision.
