Strange, to put it mildly, reports have been swirling for the past few weeks that Ilkay Gundogan is leaving Barcelona. Although Gundogan has only been at Barcelona for a little over six months, we must note that these speculations have been circulating.

Not too long ago, it was rumored that the 33-year-old midfield player had indicated a desire to join Galatasaray in Turkey. But the star quickly cleared the air with his agent, denying any interest in relocating to Turkey.

To what extent is Gundogan amenable to leaving Saudi Arabia?

Now, sources in Saudi Arabia that SPORT obtained state that Gundogan is amenable to relocating to the Middle Eastern country, even if he had earlier turned down the offer to do so in the summer of last year.

Director of the Saudi Arabian Federation’s competition committee Saad Al-Ladhim recently revealed that during the summer of last year, a football player who had previously declined to move to the nation called to inform them that he would be joining a team that plays in their league.

After breaking the story, the daily Asharq Al-Awsat revealed that the player in question was none other than Barcelona player Gundogan. He did not mention any names in his remarks, but the story was eventually published by the media.

Saudi Arabia has no plans to slow down in the upcoming year and will continue to look for players who are regarded as marquees after investing a substantial sum of money to entice the most well-known players to their league.

The name of Marcos Alonso has also emerged as a prospective target for the Saudi Arabian teams, and Robert Lewandowski, who plays for Barcelona, has previously been widely connected to the Saudi Arabian clubs.

 Currently, Gundogan’s name is also being brought up in the rumor mill, despite the fact that it is highly improbable that the accusations have any basis in reality.

Gundogan enjoying his time in Barcelona

Earlier, it was mentioned that Gundogan and his agency had already dispelled rumors that he might be sent to Turkey.

Having stated, “I am very happy in Spain, in my club,” the midfielder had made it quite apparent that he was content and happy with his current position at Barcelona.

These rumors regarding Gundogan wishing to depart for Turkey and now Saudi Arabia should to be treated with a grain of salt taking into consideration that he is currently playing regularly under Xavi and that his contract is set to expire in