Sunday 23 October 2016 07:52, UK
Ilkay Gundogan admits he feared he would never play football again after suffering a serious back injury while at Borussia Dortmund.
At the start of the 2013/14 season, the Germany international suffered a back problem which kept him out of action for over a year - a period he said was the most difficult of his career.
He returned for Dortmund in October 2014, going straight back into the first team and rediscovering the type of form that helped the club to the Champions League final a year earlier, but the 25-year-old told Sky Sports the injury was a dark period in his life.
"It took me in total 14 months to recover from this," Gundogan said. "It was quite a long time where I didn't want to have surgery too early, because surgery of the spine, for a footballer especially, is not easy, and of course it is dangerous.
"I was really scared, and I didn't know if I was ever able to play football again. It was quiet difficult, tough, but with the support of my family, friends, and my former team, it was possible to handle it.
"I never lost my focus, I always tried to join the team, and in the end we decided to have the surgery. I found a really nice doctor, who made me feel very comfortable, and it was the right decision in the end.
"After three months of rehab I was back in professional football. Sometimes life is really strange."
Gundogan has played seven times for City under Pep Guardiola this season following his £21m move from the Bundesliga in the summer, despite being heavily linked with a move to Manchester United the previous summer.
But Gundogan says the opportunity to join up with Guardiola and City was too good to turn down, and that he had always wanted to ply his trade in a different country.
"I played for seven, seven-and-a-half years in the German leagues, so I had a really nice time, learned a lot from the coaches, the clubs, my team-mates, even the supporters," Gundogan added.
"I think I was just ready to do the next step, and the next step for me was always to go to a new country, new club, new language, and to do this experience.
"I always spoke to my German team-mates who played in England, Italy, Spain, and it was always interesting to listen to them about their experiences.
"It was always my aim to play in a different league one day, and with Man City, and when I heard about the option of joining Man City, it was just the perfect moment.
"The mix of the club, manager, team-mates, it was just very special for me. It was a very good alternative, and I didn't want to miss it.
"I let everyone know I wanted to do that, and they accepted that, which is something I appreciate, because doing a transfer is not always easy. The way they treated me was very well."
Watch Gundogan's City take on Southampton at the Etihad Stadium on Super Sunday, live on Sky Sports 1 from 1.30pm.
