İlkay Gundogan plays like a chess grandmaster with sprinter lungs. His first touch cushions at the perfect angle, the second sets the tempo. He senses pressure before it arrives and turns away smoothly, which deceives the attacking player. Guardiola called him “the smartest player I ever coached.”
Gundogan stats over the last five league seasons shows that he has averaged 2.1 progressive passes and 1.6 shots in the box per 90, with pass completion above 90 per cent even under pressure. He times late runs with striker instinct, like the Etihad’s 2022 finale when his brace won the title. Defensively, he reads lanes rather than dives in, with 6.4 ball recoveries per game.
At 1.80 m, his core strength survives shoulder checks. Earlier injuries pushed him toward yoga and Pilates, cutting muscular strains by half. He leads by tone, not volume which shows how influential he is on the pitch even if he is not delivering directly. Young midfielders copy his warm-up routine of toe-taps, calf stretches, and short bursts with the ball. During games, he points out passing windows with hand signals from Guardiola’s training. Set pieces add value, from curling free kicks at 20-25 m to corners aimed at diagonal runs. Gundogan's weakest point is that he lacks top-end sprint speed, relying on positioning in transitions. With time, the German national is losing his reflexes, which can be seen affecting his gameplay, where he gets dispossessed more frequently now.
Ilkay Gundogan wife is an Italian TV presenter, Sara Arfaoui in 2022. They met in Manchester during a charity gala. Sara left RAI to relocate. Their first son, Kais, arrived in March 2023, and their second son, Kenan, followed fifteen months later. Parenthood changed his routine. Morning training, lunch at Ciutat Esportiva, then nursery pick-up duty. He speaks German, Turkish, English, and was learning Spanish when he was in Barcelona. He is a coffee nerd, owns six different brewing gadgets, and carries a hand-grinder on away trips. The couple keeps social media tame match-day photos, family walks on Barceloneta beach, and occasional cooking clips.
Germany
