ILKAY GUNDOGAN
When Ilkay Gundogan announced in the spring that he was in no rush to sign a new contract at Manchester City, the local paper – and, privately, quite a few City supporters – wondered if the German midfielder leaving the club might turn out to be a blessing in disguise. By the time his inch-perfect free-kick completed City’s 4-1 win at Brighton on the final day, sealing back-to-back titles and the second part of their domestic treble, no one was foolish enough to wonder that any more.
Arguably the club’s most consistent player during a dramatic run-in, a newly combative Gundogan missed just one minute across the final 14 Premier League games of the season. His incisive passing and neat play from the base of midfield saw City through injuries to Fernandinho and Kevin De Bruyne, as well as a rare spell of indifferent form from David Silva.
The man from Gelsenkirchen has the power to surprise people off the pitch, too. When he appeared in an April fashion shoot for German magazine Stern, dressed in a bold floral print shirt by Dior, the Instagram messages poured in from his club and international team-mates. “OMG,” wrote City’s Ederson. “Now I’ve seen it all,” exclaimed Germany’s Julian Draxler. Then, on a post-season trip to Dubai, Gundogan was photographed in another brightly-patterned shirt, this time from the American designer John Elliott. “He’s flipped,” laughed another of his Germany team-mates, Antonio Rudiger.
The shock was because Gundogan is noted among players for his sophisticated, minimal style, partly inspired by Yohji Yamamoto, whose Paris Fashion Week show he attended last January between 3-0 City wins at home to Wolves and away at Huddersfield. When spotted around Manchester, often shopping in Harvey Nichols or Flannels, Gundogan can often be seen in black-on-black or grey-on-black from The Kooples and Armani.
“What I really like is everything simple: one or maximum two colours,” the former Borussia Dortmund midfielder told ESPN in 2018. “Black trousers, nice sweater, black polos. Not [large] printed stuff. I like it more when you’re not able to see the brand straightaway.” His trainers – usually white – come from boot sponsors Adidas or their Yamamoto-designed Y-3 range.
Gundogan says that when he tore his ACL in December 2016, leading to a 10-month layoff, he tried to shop the pain away in Manchester and Barcelona, where he was being treated. Boredom soon set in but style remains hugely important to a player whose City highlights include an audacious backheel assist against Burnley in January 2018 and several key touches, not least the final one in a mesmeric 44-pass move that broke Manchester United that November. “The main things for me are good food and good clothes,” admits a man seen in fashionable Milan and Mykonos over the past year. “It’s so good that everyone has their own way to dress. It’s one of the things that makes humans so interesting.”
As Gundogan enters the final year of his contract, City are said to have resolved that they’ll get far more value from him running it down on the pitch than they would cashing in, given his age, contract status and injury record. By now, the champions know what to expect: cool and compact with bold splashes of colour.
“EVERYONE HAS THEIR OWN WAY TO DRESS. IT’S ONE THING THAT MAKES HUMANS SO INTERESTING”