Last updated on July 8, 2024
İlkay Gündoğan is a German professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for many clubs and at an international level for the German national team, of which he is also captain. He was born on October 24, 1990, in Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. His nationality is German, and he follows the Muslim religion.
İlkay Gündoğan was born to Turkish parents. His father is named Irfan Gundogan, and his mother is Ayten Gundogan. Therefore, he has German-Turkish ancestry. İlkay Gündoğan has one brother Ilker Gündogan.
Marital Status:
İlkay Gündoğan is happily married to Sara Arfaoui. She is a TV presenter, actress, model and social media influencer. She is well known for her work as a TV Presenter for the Italian channel Rai 1. Sara Arfaoui was born in 1995 in Nice, France. But when Sara Arfaoui was a child, her family shifted to Italy. She has spent her life in Italy and earned citizenship there. İlkay Gündoğan and Sara Arfaoui started dating in 2021. The due decided to tie the knot in May 2022 at a wedding ceremony in Copenhagen, Denmark, with their family, friends, and relatives. İlkay Gündoğan and Sara Arfaou are living happily in their lives. The couple had their first child, a son, on March 15, 2023. They named their son Kais Gündoğan. İlkay Gündoğan made it known to the public through his social media platform that he had become a father, where he wrote, “Our love is here”.
Career:
İlkay Gündoğan has a great career in football. He is one of the best players in the world. Below is a detail of the club and international careers of İlkay Gündoğan
Club Career:
İlkay Gündoğan came through VfL Bochum’s youth academy before beginning his professional career with FC Nürnberg in 2009. He later signed a four-year contract with Borussia Dortmund on May 5, 2011. He debuted in a 0-0 match against Schalke on July 3. Later, he joined the English club Manchester City on a four-year contract on June 2, 2016, for a transfer fee of £20 million. On September 16 2017, Gündoğan made his first appearance for Manchester City in nine months, coming on as a substitute in the team’s 6–0 2017–18 Premier League win against Watford. Three months later, he scored his first goal of the season with a header, a goal that gave City the lead in their 4–1 win against Tottenham Hotspur. On August 14 2022, İlkay Gündoğan was chosen by his teammates as club captain. On June 26 2023, Gündoğan signed for La Liga club Barcelona on a two-year contract on a free transfer. He scored his first goal for Barcelona on October 28 in the sixth minute against Real Madrid, giving his team the El Clásico lead.
International Career:
After some years of playing for different youth teams, İlkay Gündoğan received his first call-up to the Germany senior team in August 2011 for a friendly match against Brazil. Finally, on 11 October, he made his first international debut for Germany by coming on as a substitute for the last six minutes of a 3–1 win against Belgium in a UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying match in the Esprit Arena in Düsseldorf.
In May 2012, he was selected in the German squad for Euro 2012. Germany reached the semi-finals, although Gündoğan did not play. On 26 March 2013, İlkay Gündoğan scored his first goal for Germany in a 4–1 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifier against Kazakhstan at the Grundig Stadion in Nuremberg. On 14 August, he scored his second goal in his next friendly match at the Fritz-Walter-Stadion in Kaiserslautern. However, he was taken off with a back injury that ruled him out for the next year and forced him to miss the 2014 World Cup. İlkay Gündoğan returned to international football on 25 March 2015 in a 2–2 draw with Australia in a friendly match. He participated in the Euro 2016 qualifying campaign, scoring in a 7–0 away win over Gibraltar. On 6 May 2016, it was announced that İlkay Gündoğan would be unable to participate in Euro 2016 due to injury. On 19 May 2021, he was selected for the squad for Euro 2020.
On 10 November 2022, İlkay Gündoğan was selected in the 26-man squad for Qatar’s 2022 FIFA World Cup. In September 2023, coach Hansi Flick named him captain of the national team in Manuel Neuer’s absence. After Manuel Neuer returned from injury, new coach Julian Nagelsmann confirmed that İlkay Gündogǎn would retain the captaincy, with Joshua Kimmich and Thomas Müller serving as the team’s vice-captains.
İlkay Gündoğan was named in Germany’s squad for UEFA Euro 2024. On 14 June, he captained Germany to a 5–1 win over Scotland in Munich’s opening match of Euro 2024. This made him the first German footballer of Turkish descent to captain the national team at a major tournament finals. On 19 June, he was awarded Player of the Match in a 2–0 victory against Hungary, in which he scored a goal and provided an assist, securing his country’s qualification to the knockout phase.
Profile Summary:
| Title | Details |
| Full Name | İlkay Gündoğan |
| Nick Name | İlkay |
| Gender | Male |
| Date Of Birth | October 24, 1990, |
| Place Of Birth | Gelsenkirchen, Germany. |
| Current Residence | Manchester, England |
| Age | 33 Years Old |
| Ethnicity | Turkish |
| Nationality | German |
| Religion | Islam |
| Height | 5 feet 10 Inches |
| Weight | 80Kg |
| Father | Irfan Gundogan |
| Mother | Ayten Gundogan |
| Sibling | A brother (Ilker Gundogan) |
| Marital Status | Married |
| Partner | Sara Arfaoui |
| Children | Kais Gündoğan |
| Profession | Footballer |
| Plays as | Midfielder |
| Jersey No | #8 |
| Net worth | Almost $40 million |
| Social Media Appearance | Instagram, Facebook |
Social Media:
İlkay Gündoğan is a famous personality and has many fans due to his remarkable football career. His fans show love to him through his Social media platform. İlkay Gündoğan has many followers and is currently activated on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. He usually posts pictures and videos of his football career and with his family. İlkay Gündoğan has 2M follwers on his Twiter Account, he has follwed 114 people from his Twitter Account. İlkay Gündoğan has a massive number of followers on his Facebook, almost 6.2M followers, which is not easy to make this number of followers. He has followed six pages from his Facebook account. İlkay Gündoğan is also activated on Instagram. He has 9M followers on his Instagram account on just 587 posts and has also followed 235 people through his Instagram account.
Net Worth:
İlkay Gündoğan is a talented and successful football player. He earned his career as a footballer mostly from playing for Barcelona. Ilkay is also involved in multiple businesses, endorsements, advertisements, and sponsorships to maintain his luxurious lifestyle. He has a Net Worth of almost $40 million as of June 2024. He currently earns an average annual salary of $7,641,088.
