After sealing a surprise comeback to Manchester City a year after leaving for Barcelona, Ilkay Gundogan is not the first player to shun the notion that you should never go back.
Football writer Adrian Kajumba looks at 10 others who returned for a second spell at a Premier League club.
Thierry Henry (Arsenal)
First spell (1999-2007): 254 PL matches, 174 goals
Second spell (2012): Four PL matches, one goal
Honours: 2x Premier League, 2x FA Cup
Henry became an all-time Premier League and Arsenal legend in his first spell, arriving from Juventus in 1999 as a winger and developing into a lethal striker and one of the best players in the world under Arsene Wenger.
The French World Cup-winner was eventually tempted away by Barcelona in 2007, having etched his name in Arsenal’s record books as their greatest goalscorer and with four major trophies, including two Premier League titles - one of which was part of the "Invincible" side of 2003/04.
He rejoined Arsenal on loan from MLS side New York Red Bulls in 2012 and enjoyed a fairytale start and finish to his temporary spell - lifting the roof off Emirates Stadium when he scored an FA Cup winner on "debut" as a substitute against Leeds United, and then signing off in style with another winning goal at Sunderland in stoppage time of his final match with Arsenal.
Teddy Sheringham (Spurs)
First spell (1992-1997): 166 matches, 75 goals
Second spell (2001-2003): 70 matches, 22 goals
Sheringham enjoyed his best period of his goalscoring career in the Premier League with Tottenham Hotspur, finding the net 75 times in 166 matches between 1992 and 1997.
There was the individual reward of the first Premier League Golden Boot but no team honours, and he left in pursuit of those by joining Manchester United in the summer of 1997, where he ended his wait for silverware, including the Treble in 1998/99.
Following the expiry of his contract at Old Trafford, Sheringham headed back to Spurs aged 35 ahead of the 2001/02 season, adding his considerable experience to their squad for two more seasons.
Robbie Fowler (Liverpool)
First spell (1993-2001): 236 matches, 120 goals
Second spell (2006-2007): 30 matches, eight goals
Honours: 1x FA Cup, 2x League Cup, 1x UEFA Europa League
Fowler is one of the finest finishers the Premier League has ever seen, a reputation he earned - along with the nickname "God" from Liverpool supporters - after breaking through at the club in the early 1990s.
The emergence of Michael Owen and Emile Heskey's strike partnership and a breakdown in his relationship with manager Gerard Houllier contributed to his departure for Leeds in 2001 for £11million, a reluctant one for Fowler.
Rafael Benitez was in charge of Liverpool by 2006 and made the popular decision to give supporters what they had been craving by bringing their hero Fowler back on a free transfer from Man City. And while he was no longer the prolific player he once was, his return was still a fairytale and a run of goals late in the 2005/06 season a reminder of the good old days.
Jurgen Klinsmann (Spurs)
First spell (1994-1995): 41 matches, 20 goals
Second spell (1997-1998): 16 matches, nine goals
Klinsmann made a memorable entrance to English football following his arrival from Monaco in 1994, in what was a major coup for Spurs, with the German a genuine global star at the peak of his powers who had just scored five times at the 1994 FIFA World Cup in the US.
He netted again on his Spurs debut at Sheffield Wednesday with a spectacular header, and won over some of his critics by famously making light of his reputation for going to ground too easily with an iconic diving celebration.
Klinsmann scored 30 goals in all competitions during what proved to be an initial one-season stay when he earned himself cult-hero status at Spurs. And he cemented that when he rejoined on loan from Sampdoria in December 1997, scoring the goals that kept Spurs in the Premier League, in particular a four-goal haul at Wimbledon.
Juninho (Middlesbrough)
First spell (1995-1997): 57 matches, 12 goals
Second spell (1999-2000): 28 matches, four goals
Third spell (2002-2004): 41 matches, 11 goals
Honours: 1x League Cup
Not content with just one spell as a fans’ favourite at Middlesbrough, Juninho went back twice to make it three.
His first period lasted two seasons and ended in a tearful relegation at Leeds in 1996/97 but not before the diminutive Brazilian attacking midfielder had captured the hearts of Boro supporters’ with his skill and smile, and having done enough for many to consider him the club’s greatest-ever player.
He was loaned back to Boro from Atletico Madrid during the 1999/2000 season and then had one further crack between 2002 and 2004, helping the club win their only major trophy, the League Cup in his final season.
Wayne Rooney (Everton)
First spell (2002-2004): 67 matches, 15 goals
Second spell (2017-2018): 31 matches, 10 goals
Rooney bursted on to the scene in unforgettable fashion as a 16-year-old at Everton, opening his Premier League account five days ahead of his 17th birthday with a spectacular goal against Arsenal, before joining Man Utd, where he spent his best years, in 2004.
His 13 seasons at Old Trafford were filled with goals - a club-record 253 of them - and silverware including five Premier League titles and the UEFA Champions League as he joined the pantheon of Man Utd greats.
Rooney returned to his boyhood club Everton in 2017 to finish his Premier League career and added 10 more goals including his first-ever Toffees hat-trick against West Ham United, which featured a stunning goal from inside his own half.
Cristiano Ronaldo (Man Utd)
First spell (2003-2009): 196 matches, 84 goals
Second spell (2021-2022): 40 matches, 19 goals
Honours: 3x Premier League, 1x Champions League, 1x FA Cup, 2x League Cup, 1x FIFA Club World Cup
Ronaldo joined Man Utd as a talented teenage bag of tricks before eventually beginning his transformation into one of football’s greatest goalscorers and players.
His penultimate season at Old Trafford, when he scored 31 league goals and won the Ballon d’Or, was a sign of things to come and he went into overdrive when it came to finding the net after leaving for Real Madrid in 2009.
Ronaldo returned to United to much fanfare in 2021, scoring twice on his second debut against Newcastle United. He netted 19 goals in 40 league matches second time around but Man Utd were not the same force they were when he left and he was unable to inspire a repeat of the trophy-winning success of his first spell.
Jermain Defoe (Spurs)
First spell (2004-2008): 139 matches, 43 goals
Second spell (2009-2014): 137 matches, 48 goals
Defoe has rejoined previous clubs on three separate occasions at AFC Bournemouth, Spurs and Sunderland but only with one of those clubs, the north London side, have both spells been in the Premier League.
And unlike some of the others who have gone back, Defoe did it when he was still in his prime years and able to hit the same heights as he previously did.
Defoe scored 43 Premier League goals in 139 matches for Spurs first time and then 48 in 137 when he returned aged 26 after a season at Portsmouth squeezed in between.
Didier Drogba (Chelsea)
First spell (2004-2012): 226 matches, 100 goals
Second spell (2014-2015): 28 matches, four goals
Honours: 4x Premier League, 1x Champions League, 4x FA Cup, 3x League Cup
After a slow start in England Drogba established himself as one of Europe’s most feared strikers at Chelsea, whom he joined from Marseille in 2004.
He helped Chelsea win three Premier League titles in his first spell, among a host of other trophies, and repeatedly displayed his knack for delivering in the biggest matches, not least when his equaliser and decisive penalty in the shootout won Chelsea their first Champions League in 2012 against Bayern Munich.
One of Jose Mourinho’s trusted lieutenants during the "Special One’s" first reign, the pair were reunited at Stamford Bridge again in 2014. Another Premier League triumph followed before Drogba was celebrated by being carried off the pitch shoulder-high by his team-mates in a farewell appearance at Stamford Bridge against Sunderland.
Gareth Bale (Spurs)
First spell (2007-2013): 146 matches, 42 goals
Second spell (2020-2021): 20 matches, 11 goals
Honours: 1x League Cup
Bale had a difficult time initially following his 2007 arrival at Spurs from Southampton, going two years and 24 Premier League matches before enjoying a victory.
But once he moved forward into a more attacking role and announced himself via his confidence-boosting exploits in the Champions League, which included a hat-trick against defending champions Internazionale Milano in 2010, he was at times unstoppable.
His final season at Spurs was one of the great individual campaigns, featuring countless moments of match-winning magic, 21 league goals, four assists and the 2012/13 EA SPORTS Player of the Season award, earning him a move to Real Madrid.
When things turned sour in Spain for Bale, Spurs offered him an escape route. Bale was not the force of old during his 2020/21 season-long loan but still scored a respectable 16 goals in 34 matches in all competitions, including a second Premier League hat-trick against Sheffield United.
