Why Ilkay Gundogan and Manuel Akanji missed Manchester City’s loss to Tottenham | OneFootball

Ilkay Gundogan and Manuel Akanji were missing from Manchester City’s matchday squad for their 2-0 defeat to Tottenham on Saturday.

The pair has attracted strong interest from Galatasaray in recent weeks, with Manchester City understood to have accepted a £15 million offer from the Turkish giants for the 30-year-old defender, who joined City from Borussia Dortmund in 2022.

However, Akanji has publicly played down talk of a possible move to Galatasaray this week and with two years remaining on the centre-back’s contract at the Etihad Stadium, he is not believed to be keen on the transfer.

Meanwhile, Ilkay Gundogan activated an automatic extension clause entered into his Manchester City contract last term, which will allow the 34-year-old to stay at the Etihad Stadium into a second season upon his return from Barcelona last summer.

City have strengthened their midfield this summer with the acquisitions of Tijjani Reijnders and Rayan Cherki, both of whom have taken no time to adjust to life at the Etihad Stadium and represent some very shrewd business in the transfer market from director of football Hugo Viana.

The Blues have undergone a major summer revamp of their first-team squad, with all of Kevin De Bruyne, Scott Carson and Kyle Walker shown the door. James McAtee has also joined Nottingham Forest for £30 million.

Elsewhere, City have sanctioned loan moves for Jack Grealish, Vitor Reis, Claudio Echeverri and summer signing Sverre Nypan to Everton, Girona, Bayer Leverkusen and Middlesbrough respectively – in a bid to trim and streamline Guardiola’s first-team squad.

There is an expectation of more transfer business to come in the final week of the summer transfer window, with City’s underwhelming showing in their 2-0 defeat to Tottenham on Saturday certain to have left Viana and the Manchester City board with food for thought.

Akanji has been linked with a move to Galatasaray and City are reported to have accepted a £15 million bid for the Switzerland international, though it can be argued that allowing Akanji to leave after Reis’ loan could leave Guardiola short in central defence as the season progresses.

The former Dortmund man is keen to extend his stay at the Etihad Stadium and whilst City will not force a transfer, Akanji’s representatives are understood to have met with Galatasaray this week to discuss a possible transfer.

Gundogan has had long-standing interest from Galatasaray himself and the former Germany international – alongside Akanji – were left out of the Manchester City squad to face Tottenham on Saturday due to rotation, as confirmed by Pep Guardiola after the 2-0 loss.

It remains to be seen what the final week of the window could hold for Gundogan and Akanji, who are not first-choice in their respective positions and are likely to see minutes difficult to come by at Manchester City should they decide to stay put.