Arsenal’s £30m ace will tell fans if he’s leaving the Emirates imminently

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Arsenal’s Granit Xhaka will make an announcement about his future at the Premier League runners-up imminently as he holds talks regarding a return to the Bundesliga with Bayer Leverkusen. 

This is not the way the Switzerland international would have been hoping to bow out at Arsenal. 

Granit Xhaka’s departure will not coincide with a Premier League trophy and a shower of champagne. Not so much bittersweet, as merely bitter. 

According to Fabrizio Romano, a player snapped up in a £30 million deal from Borussia Monchengladbach in the summer of 2016 is in advanced talks over a return to the German top-flight. He is set to join forces with Xabi Alonso at an upwardly-mobile Bayer Leverkusen. 

Granit Xhaka could leave Arsenal for Bayer Leverkusen

Xhaka has so far remained tight-lipped on the subject, but plans to reveal all following Arsenal’s final day clash with Wolves at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday. 

“You will know the latest next week, for sure,” Xhaka tells The Standard. 

“I think they (the fans) deserve that, and I do myself as well. We have one more week of this Premier League season. The first thing is I want to enjoy (it).

“And, for sure, you guys will know next week what happens with my future.”

Bayer Leverkusen CEO Simon Rolfes was coy when asked about Xhaka’s potential arrival recently. He did admit, however, that the Europa League semi-finalists are keen to bring in a number of new players during the off-season, with a player of Xhaka’s personality and leadership ability likely to come in very handy in a rather callow dressing room. 

“I am a little bit (surprised that Xhaka could leave) actually!” former Liverpool, Tottenham hotspur and Fulham ace Danny Murphy tells talkSPORT (17 May, 11am).  

“I think the way he’s redeemed himself is phenomenal. It says a lot about his character. He’s been absolutely sensational this season, brilliant playing in a position much more suited to him. A role he’s enjoyed.

“I think he’s got the fans back onside. He’s been really inspirational. A good character, a good leader.”

Xhaka, at the age of 30, has just one year left on his contract. From both a financial and a sporting perspective, now feels like the right time to move on, especially if Declan Rice is heading to the Emirates from West Ham United.