Former Gunner Granit Xhaka wants to join Chelsea this summer, with Sunderland’s desire to keep him seemingly the only thing likely to scupper a transfer.
Fabrizio Romano reports that that Granit Xhaka has informed Chelsea that he wants to go back to London, he wants to play for Chelsea, and he wants to play for Xabi Alonso. There’s already a guaranteed agreement on personal terms, and the player is pushing the move.
Rather than any hesitance on Xhaka’s part, the only potential obstacle to a deal is instead the need for the two clubs to reach an agreement.
Sunderland didn’t anticipate a potential departure for Xhaka, and they insist they don’t want to sell. On the other side, Chelsea want to pay less than the reported £30-40m figure doing the rounds at the moment.
James Benge confirms that Sunderland do not want to sell Xhaka, viewing him as a hugely influential player for them.
Benge suggests Xhaka has proved to be worth much more to Sunderland than the £17m they paid, which presumably makes it difficult to imagine an agreement at significantly less than the £30m Chelsea don’t want to pay for a 33-year-old.
Xhaka turns 34 in September, so he’s very much in the latter stages of his playing career, even if his midfield role and the fact he never particularly relied on his pace might allow him to play a bit longer than some others.
Jacob Steinberg writes for The Guardian that Sunderland are determined not to sell, and they’re expected to fight to keep Xhaka around. The midfielder still has two years on his contract and Sunderland are set to play in the Europa League this season.
But Alonso is keen to add experience to Chelsea’s squad, even if the club don’t want to pay a big fee.
From an Arsenal perspective, there will be more than a few supporters disappointed that a former Arsenal player who previously had a strong relationship with the fanbase is now pushing to join a London rival.
It seems if the move doesn’t happen, it won’t be for lack of trying on Xhaka’s part.
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