Granit Xhaka closes in on move to Sunderland after £17m deal agreed with Bayer Leverkusen | Sunderland

Granit Xhaka is closing in on a transfer to Sunderland after they agreed a £17m cope with Bayer Leverkusen for the previous Arsenal midfielder.

Xhaka has been desperate to return to the Premier League and now has his want after Sunderland agreed to pay £13m upfront for the 32-year-old Switzerland worldwide, with the remaining £4m made up of add-ons. All going effectively, Xhaka will signal a three-year cope with Régis Le Bris’s newly promoted aspect.

Leverkusen’s head coach, Erik ten Hag, was eager on conserving Xhaka at Leverkusen having already misplaced Florian Wirtz, Jeremie Frimpong and Jonathan Tah this summer time. Xhaka was additionally a part of the aspect that gained the German double and reached the Europa League closing in 2024. He was additionally an integral member of the staff that completed second to Bayern Munich within the Bundesliga final season, in addition to that includes 10 occasions within the Champions League.

Le Bris wished so as to add higher Premier League expertise to his midfield and had enquired concerning the availability of Jordan Henderson earlier than the previous Sunderland participant elected to hitch Brentford after leaving Ajax. Throughout Xhaka’s seven years at Arsenal he gained the FA Cup twice and, total, made 297 appearances for the membership.

Xhaka would grow to be Sunderland’s seventh signing of the summer time, following within the footsteps of Habib Diarra, Noah Sadiki, Simon Adingra. Chemsdine Talbi, Reinildo Mandava and Enzo Le Fée. Of the brand new arrivals solely Adingra has prior Premier League expertise having made 60 appearances for Brighton.

In the meantime, Xhaka’s fellow Swiss worldwide Dan Ndoye stays a goal for Nottingham Forest, who’re engaged on a deal to signal the winger from Bologna. Talks between each golf equipment have taken place in current weeks and there’s optimism a deal could be agreed for a participant who’s eager on shifting to England.