Know Your Players: Ilkay Gündoğan, Caroline Weir, Keira Walsh

You might not have heard of Ilkay Gündoğan before, but after this edition of Know Your Players, you certainly won’t forget him! This week is all about your favourite footballers, fun facts, and a special City announcement. We will not only get to know about Ilkay Gündoğan, Caroline Weir and Keira Walsh, three amazing midfielders, we will also hear all about a very special announcement from Manchester City to all QNET IRs. Read on to find out more!

Ilkay Gündoğan

Playing at Number 8 is one of the most adaptable midfielders in City’s cavalry and a regular member of the starting XI*— Ilkay Gündoğan. He is a man who Guardiola has high hopes for in his career with the team. In addition to his reputation as an energetic player, Gündoğan maintains a calm and collected composure throughout each match, demonstrating grit as well as intelligence for the game.

Fun Facts:

• He has a stadium named after him! Gündoğan is a German national of Turkish descent; his family originally hails from the city of Balıkesir and they all still maintain close ties with their native country. Dursunbey FC, the district’s local club, named their stadium after our Cityzen in 2015.
• From his 97 Premier League Appearances to date, Gündoğan’s made a total of 5,513 passes, kicked 205 accurate long balls, and has been a part of 71 victorious matches.
• He is not the only athlete in his family; his cousin Naz Aydemir is a professional volleyball player! She plays for both the club VakıfBank and the Turkish national women’s team.
• At an international level, he’s played 37 times with the Germany senior team.
• City manager Pep Guardiola has recently named Gündoğan as one of the players who can substitute for Agüero while the striker is injured. “There are incredible players who can only play one position but Ilkay can play in many positions,” he said. “He is an outstanding player because he is so intelligent – and intelligent players can play as full-backs or wingers at the same time, in the same role.”

*The starting 11 players for each match.

Caroline Weir

Next is a star attacking midfielder playing at Number 19, Scottish footballer Caroline Weir. She officially signed onto City in June 2018 with an impressive resume for someone so young. By the time she joined our Blues, she’d already played for Arsenal Ladies, Bristol Academy and Liverpool! Passionate, relentless, and unstoppable, Weir has proven herself an essential team member and we can’t wait to see her back in action.

Fun Facts:

• Last year, she made football history. On 7 September 2019, she scored a goal that sealed our Blues’ victory against rivals Man United in the FIRST-EVER women’s Manchester Derby. Not only that, the Etihad hosted a crowd of 31,213 people that day – a record for a Women’s Super League fixture!
• She’s an invaluable player for her country. In 2016, Weir was awarded Scotland’s Player of the Year. The following year, she scored Scotland’s first goal against Spain during Euro Cup 2017, a match which resulted in her being voted Player of the Game.
• She won Player of the Match again in the 2019 WSL Cup Final, where Man City beat Arsenal 4-2 on penalties!
• Weir was also teammates with fellow Cityzen and team captain Steph Houghton back in their days with Arsenal Ladies.
• Earlier in January this year, she signed a new contract with City extending her stay until 2022. So, we’ll be seeing more of her very soon!

Keira Walsh

Number 24 in Manchester City Women’s Team is Keira Walsh. Already a City fan since childhood, you can imagine how thrilled she was when she signed on to play with our Blues! As one of England’s young rising stars who joined City at 18 years old, she is living proof that if you keep aiming for your dreams, nothing can stop you.

Fun Facts:

• She made her debut for City in a 1-0 victory over Notts County Ladies in July 2014. The following year, she signed her first professional contract and became an official Cityzen.
• Walsh made her senior debut for England in November 2017 and has totalled 24 appearances to date.
• Despite being away for most of her debut season due to injury, she recovered and quickly returned to the team’s starting XI. When you work hard and show them what you’re made of, age truly is just number!

Announcement For All QNET IRs

With the Premier League having resumed, Manchester City is just as excited to get back on track as they are to hear from their partners – YOU!

As you are part of QNET, a global company and official direct selling partner of City, the club has prepared a quick survey in which you stand a chance to win official signed merchandise. All you have to do is answer some quick questions in this QNET-Manchester City partnership survey and you could win a Manchester City signed football or an official home shirt! What are you waiting for? Take the survey, NOW!