Manchester City midfielder Ilkay Gundogan was pleasantly surprised by how quickly the English champions settled back into their stride by beating Chelsea 2-0 to win the Community Shield in an ominous performance for the rest of the Premier League.
Pep Guardiola’s men begin their title defence at Arsenal on Sunday, looking to back-up a record-breaking campaign that saw them amass 100 points to win the league by a 19-point margin from Manchester United.
“I was curious the way we would start the game and how it would go,” German international Gundogan told the club’s website.
“I wouldn’t say that it was necessary to give us confidence, but the first weeks when the season starts, the important games start, you never really know what to expect. You don’t really know 100 percent on which level you are.
“It was a great test for us, a last test before the Premier League season. At the end we feel ready right now and we can’t wait for the season to start.”
Guardiola could even afford the luxury of leaving Kevin De Bruyne, David Silva and Raheem Sterling out of his matchday squad at Wembley after their World Cup exertions.
However, Sergio Aguero showed no hangover from Argentina’s early exit in Russia by scoring twice to take his tally for the club to 201.
“We feel very lucky to have Sergio in our team, a striker like him,” added Gundogan.
“On top of that even Gabriel (Jesus) with his ability and his quality. We have two great strikers and feel very, very happy.”
With just weeks of the transfer window remaining the rumour mill is churning out transfer speculation around Europe. We have already witnessed a number of big moves across the continent and there is certainly more to come.
Ilkay Gundogan is now top of Inter Milan’s wish list. The Serie A club have targeted Luka Modric and Arturo Vidal, who joined Barcelona, this summer, but are more likely to sign the Manchester City midfielder who could be available for £36m (€40m) (Tuttosport).
The German International revealed his disappointment as Germany failed to reach the knockout stages of the World Cup.
After losing to South Korea, Joachim Low’s side became the first German national team to fail to make it beyond the first round of the World Cup since 1938.
And three days after defeat Gundogan has broken his silence on Twitter to send a message to the fans.
“We are all still so disappointed. We had big plans, but we failed,” he wrote.
“I’m proud to have played for the 1st time for #GER at a World Cup, but to exit in the group stage is nothing but frustrating. We have to get up again for the challenges after the summer break – and we will.”
It was a controversial campaign for Gundogan who found himself at the centre of a media storm ahead of the tournament after he posed for a picture with Turkish president Recep Erdogan.
Some groups including political group Alternative for Germany (AfD) called for the pair to be dropped from the World Cup squad.
Joern Koenig, the AfD’s spokesman on sport, said: “Team spirit isn’t working with Ozil and Gundogan in the German team because whoever only takes part half-heartedly can’t muster the necessary fighting spirit.
“Joachim Loew should cut the cord and send both of them home. There are national players who are proud of our country and Ozil and Gundogan should free up two spots on the national team for players who don’t pay more homage to the Turkish president than they do to the German homeland.”