Sara Gundogan has revealed she misses living in Manchester despite her previous criticism of the city.
Gundogan, previously Sara Arfaoui, started dating former Man City star Ilkay Gundogan in 2021 before they tied the knot a year later. They have one son together, Kais, who was born in March 2023.
Sara is one of the stars of Prime Video's new series Married To The Game which follows the lives of five football WAGS, aiming to give an insight into the reality of dating a top-level footballer.
Sara was a highly-successful TV presenter and model before meeting Ilkay, with the couple relocating to Barcelona this summer after the midfielder joined the Catalan giants upon the expiry of his contract at the Etihad.
He enjoyed a hugely decorated seven-year spell with City, winning 14 trophies, which included captaining Pep Guardiola's side to a historic Treble last season.
However, things were sometimes tricky off the pitch, with Sara infamously criticising Manchester on occasions, which included one rant about the quality of the food in October 2022.
She posted on her Instagram story: 'Sorry, I'm sad to be honest but nothing. I tried [sic] so bad to find a good restaurant but horrible food everywhere.
'Can't find a real Italian or good sushi or just fresh food… everything frozen. Restaurants here are focus [sic] on making money with drinks and shot [sic] like nightclubs, not quality food. Maybe in London but in Manchester nothing. I'm sorry.'
However, speaking exclusively to Mail Sport, Sara revealed that she grew to love Manchester and actually found it hard to leave in the summer.
'When I was in Manchester, my whole life was (originally) around football,' she said. 'My friends were football, the people I met through my husband, and then I didn't have anything that was just my world outside of that.
'And I'm a social person. So it took me a bit of time, but I made it friends and it was really nice.
'After making friends, I was really happy. I had my own life and routine in Manchester and I have one of my best friends there.'
There were several rumours about Ilkay's future in the summer, with the midfielder linked with clubs across the globe, while there was also a chance he would stay at City.
And Sara went onto explain the difficulty of leaving Manchester behind after finding out her husband would be moving abroad.
She added: 'Over the years I would see friends moving so it's something that's always around in football and you would suddenly just have a phone call from them telling you they're going to another country.
'So, it's always around, it's always happening but I didn't imagine that it would be us and when it's you it's big a shock.
'It's always sad, especially because you make friends, you're happy somewhere, you build your life and then you have to leave all the people you love.'
Sara also reflected on her initial struggles in Manchester and explained how sticking with things ultimately paid off.
She added : 'I think it's really hard to live in England when you are alone in the house and you can't meet anyone.
'But when you start to know a bit more about it, how to go around and have friends, I think the place changes completely and you can enjoy it.
'I started to enjoy everything and I kind of miss Manchester now.'
coteknos
126
Well, Gundogan makes sufficient money to hire a chef and keep her eating steak and kidney pie and fish and chips as long as she wants. The rest of us eat what’s for dinner so no sympathy from me.