Arsenal have been linked with a host of midfielders in the past few weeks and maybe that is why Granit Xhaka is on the verge of moving out.
The Gunners midfielder has been a mainstay in the starting line-up during the 2020-21 season but if they want to get back into the top-four then Mikel Arteta needs an upgrade by any means necessary. And according to Arsenal journalist Charles Watts, the Swiss international is on the verge of joining AS Roma – a club that has been linked with him for some time.
He said on his show: “Looking more and more likely that this will be his last few days, few weeks, however long it takes to get this deal over the line, as an Arsenal player and he will be playing for Roma in Serie A next season.
“Now, it’s not done, and there’s still plenty of work to do on this one. As far as I’m aware, there is no deal agreed yet for Xhaka between Arsenal and Roma, but we are getting there in terms of talks.
“They were quite a long way apart in evaluation not so long ago, the sound is now that both clubs are working pretty hard to get something done and that everyone wants this wrapped up pretty quickly. There’s a willingness on all sides, I’m told, to get this deal over the line relatively quickly.
“Arsenal want about £20m for Xhaka, give or take around that figure – potentially more if they can. But Roma initially only wanted to pay around £15m and now the sides are gonna have to come and reach a sort of acceptable compromise.”
New Roma boss Jose Mourinho is very eager to sign Granit Xhaka before the new season begins and it looks like Arsenal have no issues in letting him join the Serie A side.
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If Charles Watts is true then it’s only a matter of time that Granit Xhaka joins the Italian side and the Gunners already have a long list of players who can replace him.
The North London side have been linked with Yves Bissouma from Brighton and they have also registered an interest in Wolves man Ruben Neves. Both these players will be a massive upgrade from Granit Xhaka and if Arsenal can get a good enough transfer price from his sale then Arteta shouldn’t have any issues in signing either Yves Bissouma or Neves.
Arsenal paid £40.50 million for Granit Xhaka in 2016 but in these past five years, the midfielder has been really average for the club, playing in 220 games across all competitions but managing only 20 assists in that process.
As per TransferMarkt, Granit Xhaka is currently valued at £19.8 million so if Arsenal can get £20 million from his sale then Mikel Arteta will be a really happy man.