Ilkay Gündogan finishes fourth in UEFA Player of the Year vote

Even though he is still taking his first steps as a Barcelona player, Ilkay Gündogan arrives at the Catalan club having just had the best season of his career and serving as the captain for Manchester City’s historic Treble-winning 2022-23 campaign. And now the German has been recognized for his incredible achievements last year.

Gündogan finished fourth in the vote for the UEFA Men’s Player of the Year award, the federation announced on Thursday. Gündogan barely missed out on the list of the Top 3 finalists, which consists of his former City teammates Erling Haaland and Kevin De Bruyne and Barça legend Lionel Messi, who is the favorite to take home the award after winning the World Cup with Argentina last December.

No other Barça player made the list despite the team winning La Liga in dominant fashion last season, with their European failures the likely driving force behind the exclusion of the likes of Pedri, Frenkie de Jong, Marc-André ter Stegen and Robert Lewandowski from the final 11-man shortlist, which is voted on by a panel consisting of European club and national team managers as well as journalists.

The Player of the Year will be announced during the UEFA Champions League group stage draw, which scheduled for Thursday, August 31 in Monaco.

Congrats, Gündo!