Arsenal have been involved with two major transfer sagas this summer.
One has been the arrival of Ben White, which took almost all of the transfer window but has finally been announced.
The Gunners confirmed this afternoon that the England international has indeed signed for Mikel Arteta’s side.
The other saga has involved Roma-linked Granit Xhaka, but there looks to be a twist in this one that no Arsenal fan would’ve seen coming.
According to Dharmesh Sheth of Sky Sports News, the player is back at London Colney in preparation for the 2021-22 campaign and Arteta regards him a ‘key part’ of his plans.
He said on Sky Sports News today: “I thought I’d be sitting here telling you about Granit Xhaka moving to Roma, but none of those bids were satisfactory to Arsenal. He’s back in pre-season training and he remains, I’m told, a key part in Mikel Arteta’s plans for this season & potentially beyond. And as it stands, the Roma deal is off for now.”
Unthinkable
Xhaka staying in North London seemed almost impossible only a few weeks ago.
Gazzetta dello Sport even reported this week that the Switzerland international was desperate to secure a summer move to Jose Mourinho’s side.
But despite a number of bids, the Serie A outfit simply haven’t met the Emirates Stadium club’s valuation, which is only £17 million – £5 million more than Roma want to pay.
Despite being quite unpopular among many Arsenal fans, Xhaka was actually one of the club’s better and more consistent players under Arteta last season.
And his displays for the Swiss during Euro 2020 were a reminder that the Gunners would be losing a very talented footballer, if his exit materialised.
But at the moment, he looks set to stay in North London and no doubt there’ll also be more than a few supporters quite relieved.
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