Ilkay Gundogan has donated the bonus he received for helping Manchester City win the Premier League to his childhood club in Germany.
The Germany midfielder, 30, spent a decade at Hessler 06 in Gelsenkirchen before joining Bochum’s academy.
The donation will be used to help fund a new artificial pitch.
“When Ilkay heard that children were withdrawing because there was no artificial pitch, it hit him hard,” said his manager and uncle, Ilhan.
“We are still very closely connected to the club, because we spent large parts of our childhood here.”
Gundogan will contribute the majority of the 300,000 euros (£258,000) being paid by Hessler 06, using the entirety of his Premier League bonus.
Local authorities in Gelsenkirchen will contribute the remaining 350,000 euros (£301,000) towards the project.
“Without Ilkay, we would not have been able to start this project,” said club chairman Rainer Konietzka.
After playing at Hessler, Gundogan joined Bochum’s academy as a teenager and progressed to their first team.
He later signed for Nurnberg (2009) and Borussia Dortmund (2011) before becoming Pep Guardiola’s first signing at City in 2016, and won his third Premier League title this year.
