Gündogan signing shows Barcelona's extraordinary power of attraction

A unique club. A player who has just lifted the Champions League like Ilkay Gündogan, who is on the crest of the wave, who has a special feeling with his coach, who plays in the Premier League, the most attractive competition in the world, who is the captain of the current European champions, who has spent a lifetime waiting for this moment... and he decides to move to Barcelona where, according to some, a period of decline has set in, they have been eliminated at the first hurdle in Europe in back-to-back seasons...

Yes, it is true that they have won LaLiga, but it is the first one in the last four seasons. How do you understand something like that? Why is a player capable of taking such a risk after touching the footballing sky? Why does Gündogan decide to go to Barça when the rational thing is to stay in England or to take advantage of the super offer that comes from Saudi Arabia?

The answer can only be found in the greatness of Barcelona, a club with an extraordinary power of attraction -- only comparable to that of Real Madrid. For some reason, they are the two most popular clubs in the world. Xavi told Robert Lewandowski when he took to the Las Vegas pitch to play against Real Madrid on his debut as an Azulgrana. "This is Barça."

And that is the only way to understand why Barça, despite many financial problems, is still Barcelona, a club that so many kids have dreamed of playing for and now, like Gündogan, have the chance to do so, they do not hesitate to take up the challenge. Gündogan now, like Lewandowski a year ago, has been seduced by what the entity represents, an entity that has prestige in the world beyond the ordinary, to the point of becoming a train that no one wants to pass up. Neither the best European goalscorer nor one of the best players of the current European champions. 

Barça is an unusual attraction for many and that is the reason to help understand why two players like Lewandowski and Gundogan have decided to come.