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Cape Town - Manchester City midfielder Ilkay Gundogan has been blown away by the scale and ambition of the project being undertaken at the Premier League club.
Gundogan joined City from Borussia Dortmund for a fee believed to be in the region of £20million and, while his debut was delayed somewhat by injury, the playmaker has since become a key component in manager Pep Guardiola's fluid midfield.
"When I come to the training centre by car, it's already very impressive. Not even Bayern can compare with this, it's in a different league," he told German football magazine Kicker.
"You can see that you have arrived at a worldwide club that wants big things and wants to develop great things in the next few years.
"Accordingly, the pressure and responsibility on individual players is profound. It's something different to Dortmund.
"It is clear here that you are striving for the supreme. The expectation is extremely high because of the transfers and because of Pep, who is the personification of success."
Gundogan is hungry for success both at club and international level. He was unfortunately not part of the Germany team that won the World Cup in 2014 because of a back injury, but he is optimistic about his future chances with the national side after head coach Joachim Low extended his contract until the end of the World Cup in 2018.
"It is a great sign. I believe that he has done extremely successful work in the past years and I hope there are many more successful years to come," the 26-year-old added.
"The team is undergoing a little change, there are new talents and it's extremely exciting."
