İlkay Gündoğan’s wife, Sara, has admitted to missing Manchester after moving to Barcelona in June of 2023.
Sara and her husband lived in Manchester for over five years when the German midfielder played for Manchester City.
The Cityzens signed Gündoğan in 2016 from Borussia Dortmund and he went on to spend seven amazing years with the team.
He left them in the summer after winning a treble as their captain to play for Barcelona, the club of his dreams. As a 32-year-old midfielder, he came in as a veteran having won several trophies at club level. Now 33 years old, he is one of the most senior players in the team and is a leader in a squad whose average age is 25.9 years.
He has fully settled into the club, the city and the lifestyle. He is also showing his leadership on and off the pitch, especially on the pitch where he leads the club in assists for the 2023/24 season with 10 assists. That tally betters his personal best of nine assists from the 2018/19 season when he was still in the books of Manchester City.
Barcelona fans appreciate his work but his wife seems to prefer their former home more.
In an interview with the Daily Mail, Sara Arfaoui said: “When I was in Manchester, my whole life was (originally) around football. My friends were football, the people I met through my husband, and then I didn’t have anything that was just my world outside of that. And I’m a social person. So it took me a bit of time, but I made friends and it was really nice.”
“After making friends, I was really happy. I had my own life and routine in Manchester and I have one of my best friends there.”
“Over the years I would see friends moving so it’s something that’s always around in football and you would suddenly just have a phone call from them telling you they’re going to another country. So, it’s always around, it’s always happening but I didn’t imagine that it would be us and when it’s you it’s big a shock.”
“It’s always sad, especially because you make friends, you’re happy somewhere, you build your life and then you have to leave all the people you love. I started to enjoy everything and I kind of miss Manchester now.”
This revelation comes as a shock to many after her famous rant in 2022 in which she talked down on the food and culture in Manchester. The Italian-Algerian wife of the Barcelona midfielder said at the time in her rant: “Sorry, I’m sad to be honest but nothing. I tried so bad to find a good restaurant but horrible food everywhere. Can’t find a real Italian or good sushi or just fresh food… everything frozen.”
“Restaurants here are focused on making money with drinks and shot like nightclubs, not quality food. Maybe in London but in Manchester nothing. I’m sorry.”
Gündoğan’s contract with Barcelona runs until 2025 with an option to stay for one more year. Manchester City would be happy to receive him after the expiration of his two-year deal, but the German’s love for Barcelona will be the deciding factor.
Sara could soon return to her preferred city sooner rather than later.
