Advertisement

Updated June 9th, 2021 at 12:43 IST

Gundogan donates Champions League bonus to childhood club helping them fund new pitch

Manchester City midfielder Ilkay Gundogan is set to donate all of his Champions League bonuses to Hessler 06, his childhood club in Germany.

Reported by: Smit Trivedi
Gundogan
| Image:self
Advertisement

Manchester City star Ilkay Gundogan has donated the Champions League bonus he received to his childhood club helping them build an artificial pitch for players. The German midfielder spent nearly 10 years at Hessler 06 in Germany before joining Bochum’s academy where he managed to break through and rise across the ranks to become a professional footballer.

 

Ilkay Gundogan childhood club to receive money from the German

 

Ilkay Gundogan donation will see the Man City midfielder give away nearly most of the bonus he received from his current club with the 30-year-old helping the English outfit win their fifth Premier League title of the decade. He was also City's top scorer in the English top-flight competition this season netting 13 goals in the Premier League.

Gundogan was also an instrumental figure in Pep Guardiola's team in the Champions League which saw the English side make their maiden UCL final appearance. However, things did not end well for the German as Man City suffered a narrow 1-0 loss to fellow PL rivals Chelsea in Portugal as Kai Havertz rounded up Ederson after Mason Mount's defence-breaking pass at the brink of halftime to hand the Blues their second Champions League trophy. 

Hessler 06 are said to require around 650,000 euros in order to complete the purchase and installation of a new pitch. The German midfielder is expected to pitch in 300,000 euros and cover most of the costs required by Hessler 06 towards the project with the local authorities in Gelsenkirchen set to contribute the remaining 350,000 euros.

Speaking of Ilkay Gundogan donation, his uncle revealed how Ilkay is still very closely connected to the club because he had spent a large part of his childhood there. Ilhan, who is also Gundogan's manager added that the German international was hit hard when he heard that many children were withdrawing because there was no artificial pitch which led to the Manchester City star deciding to donate money towards the project. The 30-year-old midfielder is currently away on national duty with the German national team and is set to feature for Joachim Low in the upcoming European Championship. 

Germany squad for Euro 2020

Goalkeepers: Manuel Neuer, Bernd Leno, Kevin Trapp

Defenders: Robin Koch, Antonio Rüdiger, Marcel Halstenberg, Lukas Klostermann, Christian Günter, Mats Hummels, Robin Gosens, Matthias Ginter, Niklas Süle

Midfielders: Joshua Kimmich, Leon Goretzka, Kai Havertz, Thomas Müller, Toni Kroos, Jamal Musiala, Emre Can, Jonas Hofmann, Florian Neuhaus, Ilkay Gündogan, Leroy Sane

Forwards: Kevin Volland, Timo Werner, Serge Gnabry

Advertisement

Published June 9th, 2021 at 12:43 IST

Your Voice. Now Direct.

Send us your views, we’ll publish them. This section is moderated.

Advertisement
Advertisement
Whatsapp logo