Ilkay Gundogan suffers serious knee injury to throw Manchester City transfer into serious doubt

Gundogan was expected to be one of Pep Guardiola's first signings at City but now faces a number of months out of action

Jack de Menezes
Friday 06 May 2016 13:35 BST
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Manchester City have been dealt a major blow in their summer transfer plans after Borussia Dortmund confirmed that midfielder Ilkay Gundogan has suffered a dislocated knee cap, ruling him out of Euro 2016 and set to sideline him for months.

The Germany international will not play again this season after suffering the nasty knee injury in training for Dortmund, with the club having two Bundesliga matches remaining as well as the German Cup final.

The 25-year-old has hinted that he will not sign a new contract with the club beyond his current deal which expires in 2017, leaving him poised to join Manchester City in the summer after admitting his desire to play under Pep Guardiola, but that reported move must now be in serious doubt with Gundogan unable to complete a medical.

A dislocated kneecap normally takes around six months to fully recover from, meaning that the midfielder is set to miss the start of next season and could even miss the rest of 2016. Gundogan has suffered with a number of serious injuries in the past with a back problem in 2013 that required surgery and ruled him out for a full year, while he has also picked up a number of knee injuries.

The club confirmed the news on Friday afternoon after Gundogan had already been ruled out of Saturday’s Bundesliga encounter with Eintracht Frankfurt, with Dortmund having to win and hope Bayern Munich slip up at Ingolstadt.

Guardiola is expected to bring in a number of players in the summer in order to refresh a City squad that had disappointed this season. Having reached the Champions League semi-finals for the first time in their history, City failed to show up at the Santiago Bernabeu as Real Madrid comfortably beat Manuel Pellegrini’s side, while defeat by Arsenal this weekend could jeopardise their Champions League participation next season as they would risk dropping out of the top four.

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