Analysing Borussia Dortmund Midfielder Ilkay Gundogan's Form This Season

When Borussia Dortmund presented their team for the 2015/16 season in the Signal Iduna Park at the start of July, the fans greeted one player with boos and whistles: Ilkay Gundogan. It wasn't the entire crowd, but a noticeable group of supporters.

Gundogan had signed a contract extension a few days prior to the team presentation, ending a whirlwind of speculation of the midfielder leaving the club.

The Germany international was indeed intent on moving away from Dortmund, which the Black and Yellows acknowledged in a statement on their Facebook page on the last day of April:

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Bundesliga side Borussia Dortmund will part company with midfielder Ilkay Gundogan by 30 June 2016 at the latest. Gundogan has decided not to renew his contract with the eight-time German champions which is due to expire on that date.

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Local paper WAZ reported (in German) a transfer to Manchester United as a done deal and, even though Dortmund CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke swiftly denied (via Spiegel.de, in German) any contact with the Red Devils, it was surprising to see the 25-year-old sign an extension just two months after the club's announcement.

Twenty-two games into the season, even his harshest critics, the fans who booed him and bashed him for what they perceived to be ungratefulness on various social media platforms, will have to agree that Gundogan's staying at Dortmund is one enormous piece of good fortune for the club.

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Under new head coach Thomas Tuchel, Gundogan has rediscovered his form that put him in the cusp of world-class in his side's amazing run in the Champions League in the 2012/13 campaign. Now a year removed from a mysterious back injury that kept him off the pitch for 14 months between August 2013 and October 2014, the 25-year-old is perhaps Tuchel's most important midfielder.

Gundogan forms a brilliant partnership with young Julian Weigl, with the 20-year-old revelation playing the part of a holding midfielder, which allows Gundogan to interpret his role more freely in Dortmund's hybrid system, which alternates between alignments of 4-1-4-1, 4-2-3-1 and, in recent weeks, 4-3-3.

Gundogan typically plays in the right half-space, which has become a bit of a focal point of his team's possession game over the last few matches, after Dortmund had started the season with a clear focus on overloading the left side of the pitch, as noted by Tom Payne of Spielverlagerung.com. 

Gundogan's strengths, mainly his exceptional vision and impressive dribbling, are a very good fit for Tuchel's idea of football, which is why he's become one of the Bundesliga's most dominant midfielders, leading the league in touches of the ball, according to Inside11.de (in German).

The 25-year-old's impressive season so far hasn't manifested itself on the scoresheet, with only one goal, a penalty in the DFB-Pokal against SC Paderborn and two assists—outside of the meetings with overmatched opponents in the UEFA Europa League qualification, that is.

Gundogan has, however, greatly impacted the game without directly contributing to many goals. Dortmund's opening score against Werder Bremen is a prime example of his fantastic work that doesn't find its way into the official statistics: His vertical pass to Gonzalo Castro sliced Bremen's defence open like a hot knife through butter.

Gundogan has made himself indispensable for Tuchel's Dortmund. It's wasn't surprising to see the team struggle in the one game their No. 8 didn't start. Centre-back and team captain Mats Hummels is the only player who has spent more minutes on the pitch than Gundogan, according to Transfermarkt.de (in German).

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Going forward, Tuchel would be well advised to pick spots to rest his midfielder, who has become a regular for Germany as well. Dortmund simply don't have anyone in their ranks who could match Gundogan's creativity in the event of an injury.

Dortmund's fans, even those who booed him in July, will hope they get to see their No. 8 shine in for the Black and Yellows for years to come. With him under contract only until 2017, however, Dortmund would have to sell him next summer if they want to get a fee for their star midfielder.

Even if it comes to that, the Westfalenstadion faithful should just enjoy their time with one of the world's best midfielders on the pitch.

Lars Pollmann is a featured columnist writing on Borussia Dortmund. He also writes for Yellowwallpod.com. You can follow him on Twitter.