‘There were talks’ – Manchester United Tried To Sign Man City Star

Manchester United were interested in Ilkay Gundogan before he moved to Man City.

Pep Guardiola’s City extended their winning run in all competitions to 20 games following a hard-fought 2-1 win over West Ham. The record-breaking streak becomes even more majestic when one considers the absence of the likes of Kevin De Bruyne and Sergio Aguero for a majority of the 20 games.

However, a host of big names at the Etihad have allowed Guardiola to fill the void left by two of City’s most experienced players and overtake both Liverpool and United to reach the summit of the league standings.

Gundogan is one such name that stepped up and took the charge of both creating and scorings goals for the Cityzens.

Interestingly, the key man behind City’s run that has opened a 13 point gap between them and United could’ve represented their domestic rivals instead if things went a little differently during his time in Germany.

In 2012, the Red Devils acquired Shinji Kagawa from Borussia Dortmund. During the same time, Kagawa’s then teammate Gundogan also managed to gain some interest from United.

Confirming the reported talks from back then Gundogan told Sky Sports: “It’s kind of true. There were talks. I think that was at least two or three years before I joined City when I was playing at Borussia Dortmund.

“One team-mate of mine, Shinji Kagawa, went to Man United and someone told me they came to a few games to watch him before they bought him.

“Then I took their attention but it never really went into advanced talks because Borussia Dortmund made quite early clear that they are not willing to sell me. I had also a few years left on my contract so there was not really a point to talk to anyone at that moment. So yeah in the end it didn’t happen.”

Luckily for the Sky Blues, the German midfielder went on to spend four more years in the Bundesliga before eventually moving to Manchester – but to the blue side.