Barcelona 'will let Ilkay Gundogan leave for FREE' after being frozen out of the squad... as Pep Guardiola 'gives his Man City return the green light'

The Ilkay Gundogan transfer saga has taken another step forward, with reports saying the Barcelona player 'can leave the club on a free' transfer.

This coincides with reports that Manchester City manager, Pep Guardiola, has green-lighted the return for his former club captain. 

Journalist Fabrizio Romano broke the news on X, with a post saying: 'Understand Barcelona have 100% decided to let Ilkay Gundogan leave for free.

'Manchester City are working on details of the deal with Gundogan’s agent now in UK to get the comeback done. 

'As revealed earlier, Pep Guardiola said YES.' 

Gundogan and Flick held a meeting last Thursday, where the manager could not guarantee that Gundogan would be a regular starter under him.

Gundogan was often used in an advanced midfield role under Xavi, but deploying him behind an ageing Robert Lewandowski is not in Flick's plans, with the new manager wanting to exert pressure on opponents high up the pitch.

New signing Olmo is believed to be a better fit for this role than Gundogan.

Barcelona need to change something after finishing 10 points adrift of Real Madrid last season, and Flick appears to want a new face in the No10 role moving forward.

Does this mean Gundogan is set to be forced out? 

Flick has denied this is the case, despite Gundogan not even making the squad for Barcelona's opening day win against Valencia on Saturday.

According to Mundo Deportivo, Gundogan earns around €20m-a-year (£17m-a-year) at Barcelona, and is categorised as a 'franchise player' due to his salary being over five per cent of the club's total wage bill.

The Spanish outfit have been battling with money issues for a number of seasons, and were fined £434,000 for breaching UEFA's financial rules last year.

Therefore, they find themselves in a 'desperate' situation where they need to raise funds just to register players, including Euro 2024 winner Dani Olmo, who signed for the club earlier this month.