Manchester City Transfer News: Latest on Ilkay Gundogan, Hector Bellerin Rumours

Ilkay Gundogan has revealed his former Borussia Dortmund coach, now Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp played a key role in his move to Manchester City this summer. Meanwhile, Hector Bellerin's Arsenal contract talks aren't going smoothly, according to reports.

Gundogan joined City from Dortmund during the summer transfer window, and he told German newspaper Sport Bild his old Black and Yellows coach had a big hand in making up his mind (h/t Karolos Grohmann of Reuters, via the Daily Mail).

Gundogan said: "To be honest I asked his [Klopp's] advice, if the Premier League was the right thing for me. He said 'yes' and believed I would feel very well here and that the playing style would be perfect for me. It was good to have my impressions confirmed."

Rui Vieira/Associated Press

After seeing injury delay his start to the 2016-17 campaign, the Germany international finally got his season up and running with a scoring performance in Saturday's 4-0 demolition of Bournemouth.

Gundogan went on to outline just how flattered he was to learn his services were wanted by two-time UEFA Champions League winner Pep Guardiola prior to becoming the Spaniard's first buy at City:

"

He (Guardiola) has this amazing charisma. Anyone with a bit of knowledge of football can see that football under Pep is always extremely dominant and extremely successful. It means a lot if he wants a player. I was the first he wanted to bring here and I was still injured at the time so that says something.

"

Saturday's display against Bournemouth was an efficient one for Gundogan, per Squawka, and the future looks bright for the 25-year-old as long as he can maintain fitness for prolonged periods of the campaign:

City supporters will feel in some way indebted to Liverpool boss Klopp for the role he played in ensuring Gundogan made his way to the Premier League, thankful it was the Etihad Stadium that was his destination.

Kristof Terreur of Belgian newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws also detailed that, in another world, Klopp may have ended up with current City stars Gundogan and Kevin De Bruyne in the same Dortmund midfield:

Elsewhere, City's hopes of landing Arsenal right-back Bellerin have taken a turn for the better after the Mirror's David Anderson revealed contract negotiations between the two parties aren't progressing well:

The 21-year-old has just under three years remaining on his current contract, with Football Insider's Harvey Byrne reporting both the Citizens and Barcelona are interested in the defender.

That being said, Anderson previously detailed the Gunners' response upon hearing their Premier League rivals wanted to recruit Bellerin:

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger would undoubtedly prefer to sell his star to a foreign side if Bellerin did leave the Emirates Stadium, although he'll also hope the club are able to agree an extension with the speedster.

Bellerin arrived in north London from the Camp Nou in 2011, and after firing his way into Wenger's starting XI over the past two seasons, European interest in the Spain international is accelerating at a rapid rate.