Barcelona Plot €20m Gundogan Move After Secret Talks

​Barcelona are now favorites to sign Borussia Dortmund midfielder Ilkay Gundogan after the German flew out to meet with the club hierarchy to discuss a move last week, according to Mundo Deportivo.

The 24-year-old looks certain to follow Jurgen Klopp through the exit door of the Signal Iduna Park and could be playing in Spain in a year's time.

Manchester United were believed to have wrapped up a deal for Gundogan, but the reports claiming so were found to be premature even though Dortmund announced shortly thereafter that the midfielder would not be signing a new contract.

Arsenal, Atletico Madrid, Bayern Munich and Manchester City have also been linked with Gundogan although reports claim that Bayern have cooled their interest due to fears about his injury record.

The Germany international missed over a year of football after suffering a spinal injury in 2013 but has since made a full recovery.

Should Barcelona convince the €20million rated man to join, it would likely be another half a year at the very least until he'd be able to officially sign as their transfer embargo limits any activity until 2016.

Gundogan joined Borussia Dortmund in 2011 in a €6.5million move from FC Nuremburg and has since made 115 appearances for the club.

Ilkay Gundogan Delaying Decision Over New Borussia Dortmund Contract

​Ilkay Gundogan is reportedly stalling on signing a new contract at Borussia Dortmund, with suggestions that he finds the prospect of a potential move to the Premier League an attractive one.

The 24-year-old only signed an extension in April, but that deal expires in 2016 and according to BILD he isn't ready to commit his long term future to Dortmund just yet.

The German publication also cites interest from Manchester United as a likely reason behind his decision to delay. Any refusal to sign a new deal would leave Dortmund little choice but to sell this summer, with a fee of £16m having previously been suggested.

Gundogan has been linked with a move to Old Trafford ever since helping Dortmund reach the Champions League final in 2013, while Arsenal are another English club rumoured to be have been interested in the past.

He spent the majority of the 2013/14 campaign sidelined with a back injury. However, since a making a return to full fitness this season, the German international has been a regular in the side once more.

Juventus 2-1 Borussia Dortmund: Player Ratings From Tight ChampionsLeague First Leg

​Juventus took a slender lead over Borussia Dortmund in the first leg of their Champions League second round tie, with Max Allegri's side winning 2-1 in Turin.

The tie is finely balanced going into the return leg at Signal Iduna Park, but here are the player ratings from the initial clash.

​Roman Weidenfeller (4) Nervous performance overall, typified by his shocking parry into Tevez's path for the first goal.

Lukasz Piszczek (6) Unfortunate to be taken off injured after making an impression in the first half.

Mats Hummels (6) Tevez caused problems to the World Cup winner. Not the best performance by any means but looked strong in spells.

Sokratis Papastathopoulos (5) Struggled with Morata before being taken off at the break.

Marcel Schmelzer (6) Solid defensively but was wasteful with his deliveries from crosses.

Ilkay Gundogan (8) Produced an excellent display with his short passing always hitting the mark, while he protected the back four at the same time. Responsible for the tempo of the game for large spells.

Nuri Sahin (7) Sahin contributed to the game's tempo too, though he didn't have much say in attack.

Henrikh Mkhitaryan (5) Little to no impact made by the Armenian. Disappointing.

Marco Reus (8) Menacing display. Marked tightly by Juve but caused problems when he drifted in to the centre. Quick thinking allowed him to steal the ball off Chiellini to equalise.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (6) Under the control of Evra for the most part.

​Ciro Immobile (5) Anonymous for the most part. Did flash a long range shot or two over the bar though.

SUBSTITUTIONS

Matthias Ginter (5) Played at both right back and centre half after replacing Piszczek, looking nervous at times.

Oliver Kirch (5) Wasteful in possession after coming on at half time.

Jakub Blaszczykowski (6) Typically full of energy after coming on as a late substitute.