Manchester United were once ‘close’ to securing the services of Borussia Dortmund midfielder Ilkay Gundogan. Sky Sports also confirmed the news later on, and it appeared that the deal was as good as done, with only the contract to be signed. Arsenal were also said to be interested in Gundogan, after United’s interest died down. However it now seems both clubs are set to be made disappointed after new reports claim the German is set to stay at Dortmund and sign a new deal.

Gundogan’s contract will expire at the end of next season, and it was widely reported that he was unwilling to make a renewal. Therefore, to avoid losing the player for free, Dortmund admitted they were looking to offload the player this summer as they would obviously be reluctant to see a repeat of the Robert Lewandowski saga, which saw the player leave for free to rivals Bayern Munich.

According to German paper Bild am Sonntag, Gundogan has reached an agreement to extend his deal by a further year.

The 24-year-old’s uncle, who is also his agent, recently came out and said that staying with Dortmund was an increasingly attractive proposition for his client.

The representative said: “This is clearly an option again.”

“There are several things in favour of Ilkay finding his old level and doing that in a familiar, comfortable environment.”

Manchester United are increasingly likely to sign Southampton midfielder Morgan Schneiderlin, and Arsenal have their sights on Arturo Vidal among others, so a move for Gundogan may well be completely out of the question.