After weeks of transfer wrangling, Switzerland midfielder, Granit Xhaka, has left last season’s German league runners-up, Bayer Leverkusen, and returned to the English Premier League to assist AFC Sunderland ahead of the upcoming season.
The 32-year-old, who has played for Bayer Leverkusen since summer 2023 after leaving Arsenal, accepted the Premier League newcomer’s offer and will face his former employers during the 2025/2026 season.
The Premier League newcomer accepted the transfer conditions of the Bundesliga club, which then granted the Swiss, whose contract runs until 2028, early release, which aided Xhaka to sign a three-year contract with Sunderland on Wednesday.
“After his signing two years ago, Granit Xhaka was a key player in the Leverkusen team that won the German championship and DFB Cup double in 2024,” Bayer’s sporting director, Simon Rolfes, added.
“Accepting his urgent request to move is expedient for Bayer 04 under the negotiated terms and conditions and is the best solution for everyone involved.”
As gathered, Leverkusen will receive a transfer fee of around €20 million for the veteran. Xhaka’s agent had already publicly announced last week that the international player wants to move to Sunderland. Before his two-year stint at Leverkusen, Xhaka had already played for Arsenal FC for seven years on the English island.
The Xhaka issue has recently made headlines in recently with the 32-year-old linked with several top international clubs – including AC Milan and the Saudi club Neom SC, with whom he has already reached an agreement. The traditional Turkish clubs Fenerbahçe and Galatasaray Istanbul have also expressed interest.
