Borussia Dortmund insist Ilkay Gundogan is not pushing for a transfer to Real Madrid when the transfer window reopens later this week.
The 23-year-old has played just once this season due to a spinal injury, but he is expected to return to action when the season resumes in the New Year. He has emerged as one of the best talents in European football in recent years, and reports in Spain claim Real are keen to sign him as early as this January when the window reopens.
Los Blancos fear they could lose Xabi Alonso when his contract expires in the summer, with former club Liverpool said to be keen. Gundogan would be an ideal replacement for the Spaniard, but Borussia have wasted little time in denying speculation that the German international has already set his sights on a move to the Bernabeu.
“If we were to believe everything that comes out of the Spanish Press, we would have to be concerned that we still have a team to put together,” CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke told Bild this week. “We have not been told by Ilkay or his father that he wants to leave us.”
At the weekend, though, Gundogan’s father and agent, Irfan, claimed Real are certainly interested in the midfielder, and will monitor his progress once he is back in the first team. “The interest from Madrid is intense,” he told AS. “They want to bid for my son. But at the moment, we can’t do anything until his back injury has gone.”
