Ilkay Gündoğan, the Manchester City midfielder, expressed his great enthusiasm for participating in the 2025 Club World Cup, which will kick off with a match between Egyptian Al Ahly and American Inter Miami.

Gündoğan said in his statements: "I think it’s a great opportunity to meet teams from all over the world and play against them, teams that I usually don’t get the chance to play against."

He added: "Ultimately, we play to win the cup; it’s an interesting tournament and an opportunity to leave a clear mark as the season begins."

He continued: "When you play in this kind of competition, you want to reach as far as possible, play at your maximum, and of course, win."

Regarding the team’s recent performance, Gündoğan said: "I feel we have performed brilliantly in the last two months as the season comes to a close, and I believe if we had played at the same level we showed during that period, we would have won at least one or two titles."

He added: "But we didn’t achieve that, so the goal now is to focus on a strong start in this tournament, and then prepare for the upcoming season."

The Manchester City star concluded his statements by saying: "I am very excited about it because I know the capabilities of this team and what we can achieve again; every tournament, and every year, is a new opportunity to prove oneself."