After training at Manchester City last week, as the Ederson/Scott Carson WhatsApp group descended into another round of hysterics and Phil Foden continued his campaign to make his own hair dissolve, Ilkay Gundogan was swatting up.
"That was fun! I got the chance to manage a training session of the Man City Under-16s as a part of my coaching license course," Gundogan tweeted, alongside a picture of him dishing out some sage advice to the youngsters.
"An interesting experience to teach these young talents on their road to professional football."
Those teenagers Gundogan put through their paces are not the only ones on a journey and news that the Germany playmaker is putting plans in place to launch a coaching career should delight City fans and the wider football community.
Here are four reasons why we think 'Mr Whippy' is destined for the top when he hangs up his boots.
Working with the best
Gundogan finds himself in a unique position among contemporary footballers as a man who has excelled under the contrasting demands of the two outstanding coaches of his generation.
Before being the adaptable, essential midfield component in Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City machine, Ilkay was a standout performer in Jurgen Klopp’s gegenpressing kings at Borussia Dortmund.
Gundogan’s capacity to thrive within each playing style owes much to immaculate technical qualities and an ability to read the game. But there is another reason he is a different player from the more high-octane midfielder of his earlier career.
Overcoming adversity
Gundogan was just finding his feet at City during Guardiola’s maiden season in Manchester, having scored twice in a 3-1 win over Barcelona in the Champions League.
But he was stopped in his tracks by a cruciate knee ligament injury against Watford in December 2016 that ruled him out for the rest of the season.
It was a long road back and not the first time Ilkay had been forced to respond to such a setback. He missed Euro 2016 after suffering a dislocated kneecap, while a career-threatening spinal injury kept him out for 14 months and denied him a place in Germany’s triumphant march to 2014 World Cup glory.
Doing what the team needs
Gundogan’s high-quality set of skills allows him to be an adaptable performer, but his City career in particular has shown a willingness to put the team first.
Behind Kevin De Bruyne, David Silva and Bernardo Silva in the pecking order in his favoured number eight positions, he excelled in Fernandinho’s absence as City’s holding midfielder as they concluded a flawless run-in to pip Liverpool in a relentless 2018/19 Premier League title race.
Last season, in team without a striker, Gundogan stepped up in another new role as required by Guardiola. The playmaker tapped into his instinctive sense of goal to make those inevitable ghosting runs and rack up a huge tally in another Premier League triumph.
Gundogan’s 17 goals in all competitions made him City’s unlikely top scorer.
Selection gambles
As such, it was a surprise - to say the least - to see Guardiola infamously deploy Gundogan in a midfield anchor role he had barely played for two years when City took on Chelsea in last year’s Champions League final.
“A few days before the final, it became apparent that there is a special idea in the head of the manager. I tried to make the best of it. It should not be,” Ilkay said as he prepared for Germany’s Euro 2020 bid.
Perhaps his diplomacy might need a little work before entering the world of coaching, but being at the centre of a huge tactical gamble in the biggest game in club football stands as another valuable experience.
When the time comes, Gundogan will have vast knowledge to pass on to some very lucky groups of players.
