The Catalans and Manchester United are also interested in Dortmund’s Gundogan.
Borussia Dortmund midfield star Ilkay Gundogan is proving to be a hot transfer target after Barcelona joined Arsenal and Manchester United in the race to sign the German, according to The Daily Mail.
The 23-year-old’s father, Irfan, was reportedly in Catalonia to speak with the Spanish champions this week, which could put a dent in the Gunners and United’s chances.
Gundogan senior has previously spoken up about his son’s future, denying that the midfielder would be joining Real Madrid.
“There is no agreement between Gundogan and Real Madrid,” Irfan was quoted by The Metro in early November.
“We only put contract negotiations with Dortmund on hold because we did not want to disturb him during his injury.”
Gundogan’s contract expires in 2015 and the relatively modest current wage of £25,000-a-week means that interested parties could potentially tempt the player away from the Westfalenstadion.
The German is one of the most promising midfielders in European football currently, having joined Dortmund from FC Nurnberg in the summer of 2011 and going onto win the Bundesliga title in that first season.
To date Gundogan has played 84 matches for the Yellow and Blacks in all competitions and has eight caps for the national team.
United manager David Moyes would be desperate to land a player of the midfielder’s quality in the near future, with the Premier League champions struggling for creativity in the middle.
They tried to bring in several stars in the summer, but eventually had to settle for Everton’s Marouane Fellaini on transfer deadline day and acquiring a box-to-box ace like Gundogan would help lift morale.
The Gunners however are perhaps a more attractive prospect as they currently top the league and also have a host of German stars already at the Emirates Stadium, in Per Mertesacker, Mesut Ozil and Lukas Podolski.
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