{"id":1189664,"date":"2021-02-08T18:55:37","date_gmt":"2021-02-08T18:55:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/?p=1189664"},"modified":"2021-02-08T18:55:37","modified_gmt":"2021-02-08T18:55:37","slug":"ilkay-gundogan-advanced-midfield-role-pep-guardiola-man-city","status":"publish","type":"features","link":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/features\/ilkay-gundogan-advanced-midfield-role-pep-guardiola-man-city\/","title":{"rendered":"Reinventing Ilkay Gundogan’s Man City role may decide this season’s Premier League title"},"content":{"rendered":"

“We need more players to arrive in the box,” Pep Guardiola told his Manchester City players at the start of last month.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Those anxious words<\/a> came just before the Chelsea match after City had fired a blank in a debilitating Manchester derby and failed to clinch victory over relegation-threatened West Brom. And there was one player, in particular, who had his ears pricked up ahead of the Stamford Bridge showdown.<\/p>\n

Ilkay Gundogan broke the deadlock against the Blues to ring in the new year, opening the floodgates in a 3-1 win. The German has since taken that scoring streak to new heights, recently bagging a brace in a comprehensive 4-1 victory over reigning champions Liverpool to take this tally to nine for the season.<\/p>\n

Incredibly, that now makes him City’s top scorer in the Premier League this season, having outperformed the likes of Raheem Sterling, Gabriel Jesus, Riyad Mahrez and Kevin De Bruyne in front of goal. He is also 2021’s most prolific player across the entire division so far (seven goals).<\/p>\n

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Most Premier League goals scored in 2021: <\/p>\n

\u25c9 Ilkay G\u00fcndogan (7)
\u25ce Harry Kane (4)
\u25ce Tomas Soucek (4)
\u25ce Matheus Pereira (4)
\u25ce Ollie Watkins (4) <\/p>\n

Catch him if you can. pic.twitter.com\/GnzkFRZsba<\/a><\/p>\n

— Squawka (@Squawka) February 7, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n