Barcelona president reveals reason for Ilkay Gundogan's departure

Barcelona president Joan Laporta has revealed midfielder Ilkay Gundogan's departure from the club was "purely a sporting decision".

Gundogan surprisingly called time on his Camp Nou career after just one season, taking his talents back to Manchester City for a reunion with Pep Guardiola.

It was suggested that Barcelona looked to offload Gundogan and his high wages to aid their ongoing quest for financial stability, but Laporta has now stressed the 33-year-old simply decided the project on offer did not align with his personal goals.

"He's a great player and an excellent person," Laporta began. "The year we spent with him showed us what he's like. But after a meeting with [Hansi] Flick and assessing the situation of the squad, he decided he wanted to leave.

"It's purely a sporting decision. It wasn't a financial one, but the financial repercussions have been good for us. It's a sporting decision by Barca and Gundogan. He came without a transfer fee and it was fair that if he wanted to go to City there wouldn't be a fee. It has had an impact on our accounts, but the reason was a sporting decision by the player."

Laporta went on to claim that Barcelona declined the chance to meet La Liga's 1:1 financial status in favour of continuing negotiations over a lucrative sponsorship contract with Nike.

"There was a rush to sign the sports equipment contract, it gave us the 1:1 rule, it allowed us to sign, register without so many difficulties," Laporta explained. "But there are two reasons why it has not been done yet: the sporting time does not always coincide with the economic time and we considered that it was not necessary to rush and we saw that there were other solutions.

"We want the best contract on the market. We are in the process of negotiating. The sports equipment contract will be the best in the world of football. The one we could have signed this summer has been improved. If it had been necessary to sign another player, there was another option: to make a personal guarantee. But the institution is above everything, even personal interests. It has not been necessary. There were other options.

"All clubs have difficulties, but we will get there. But the sporting time does not coincide with the economic time. We could have been 1:1. The easy thing would have been to sign the contract already, but we saw that it could be improved. We will be 1:1, but it would be good if La Liga made it more flexible, although I think the control they are doing is good. A more flexible rule would help us all, not just Barca."

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