Ilkay Gundogan spends New Year’s Eve in hospital getting stitches due to bizarre Barcelona injury

Ilkay Gundogan’s first six months at Barcelona have gone from bad to worse with a painful-looking gym incident.

The German midfielder, who left Manchester City for free during the summer, was taken to hospital on New Year’s Eve after an accident during a weight-training session, according to local media.

Barca had just held an open training session at the Ciutat Esportiva Joan Gamper, before returning to the gym where Gundogan hit himself on the head with a weight.

His wife Sara uploaded a since-deleted photo on Instagram, showing her partner's forehead with multiple stitches.

Mundo Deportivo say the injury was only minor, and shouldn’t hurt Gundogan’s chances of making the trip to the Canary Islands to face Las Palmas on January 4.

The 33-year-old midfielder will be looking for a much better half to the season when LaLiga resumes in 2024.

So far the treble-winner with Man City has seen his new side hugely struggle to defend their 2022/23 league title, sitting seven points behind leaders Real Madrid and Girona.

Question marks have been placed on manager Xavi’s job, while a 2-1 Clasico defeat on October 28 was seen as a big blow.

Gundogan scored the opener on that day before Jude Bellingham’s double, and later hit out at his teammates.

“I have to be honest, not as much as I wish because I don't want to say something wrong,” he said. 

“I was in the dressing room and of course people are disappointed, but especially after such a big game and a result that is so unnecessary, I wish for more frustration, more anger and more disappointment. This is a little bit of a problem.

«There has to be more emotion, especially when you lose and when you know you can perform better, do better in certain situations and you just don't react.

»It