Ilkay Gundogan appointed as captain of German national team

The midfielder joined Barcelona this season on a free transfer

Ilkay Gundogan’s career has been on a dream run in the last few seasons. After joining Manchester City in 2016, he has gone on to win five Premier League titles. His last season at the Etihad was one for the history books as under his captainship, Manchester City secured the treble by winning the Premier League, the FA Cup, and the Champions League in one season.

After the season ended, he left Man City and got his dream move to Barcelona. Gundogan had always been vocal about his desire to play for the Blaugranas.

His dream run seems to have gotten an extension as Germany manager Hansi Flick has appointed the midfielder as the new captain of the German national team. He will be seen captaining the four-time world champions and three-time European champions in the international friendlies in September against Japan and France.

Manager Flick had initially appointed Bayern midfielder Joshua Kimmich as captain for friendlies earlier. He has been appointed vice-captain as Flick hopes to create a “leadership duo” between the two.

We thought about it and decided to give the captain's armband to Ilkay. He will form a leadership duo with Joshua Kimmich. This gives us new energy," Flick said.

On being appointed captain, Gundogan was quoted as saying. –

"It is an honor for me to lead the young team as captain, My experience with City last year shows that I can do the job."

Germany has been captained by captained by goalkeeper since Bastian Schweinsteiger hung up his boots in 2016. When asked about what the captaincy situation will be like when Neuer, who is nursing a longtime skiing injury post the 2022 Qatar World Cup is back, Flick replied. –

"The situation with 'Manu' is like this: He has to get healthy first. We hope he'll be back soon, but I'm not worried about that at the moment."

The friendlies Germany faces will be very important for manager Flick because if Germany continues to be lacklustre in the games as they were in the June internationals, Flick is likely to be sacked.