Izuchukwu Okosi
German Bundesliga side Bayer Leverkusen on Thursday confirmed the signing of Arsenal midfielder Granit Xhaka on a permanent deal.
Xhaka arrived in Germany earlier on Thursday ahead of the move where he will link up with former Premier League icon, Xabi Alonso who is now in charge of the Bundesliga side.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelThe agreement for the transfer of the Switzerland captain who was once the skipper at Arsenal had been reached since May between the two clubs.
However the deal was help up as the Gunners searched for a replacement which is now sorted following the apparent signing of £105m British record transfer of Declan Rice from West Ham United.
Arsenal will receive the sum of €25m (£21.5m) from Leverkusen – a decent amount for the star who has just one year left on his contract.
Sources in Germany indicate that Xhaka will sign a five-year contract until June 2028.
Xhaka was thought to be leaving the English club three seasons ago when he had a face off with the Arsenal fan base but was persuaded by Arteta to renew his contract albeit the captain’s armband had been taken off him beforehand.
The move back to Germany where he played his club football before signing for Arsenal was reportedly a decision taken by the 31-year old whose wife preferred to relocate back to Germany.
Izuchukwu Okosi is a Nigerian sports and entertainment journalist with two decades of experience in the media industry having begun his media journey in 2002 as an intern at Mundial Sports International (MSI) and Africa Independent Television (AIT), owners of Daar Communications Plc.
