HUGE domino falls in Arsenal’s Rice pursuit

Tom Weber

• 6 Jul 2023 15:44 BST
• 3 min read

Granit Xhaka has completed his move to Bayer Leverkusen, according to Fabrizio Romano, serving as proof that Arsenal's Declan Rice deal is done.

The Gunners had been courting Rice for months, at least since January, if Romano is to be believed. The Hammers rejected Arsenal's first two offers for their captain, but it was inevitable that the 24-year-old would eventually make the move to the Emirates. Several high-profile figures at West Ham revealed as much.

Arsenal saw their third, record bid worth £100 million and a further £5m in add-ons accepted by the Hammers and the deal is completed now after a few days of wrangling over the structure of the payments. Proof that the deal is done can be found in the fact that Granit Xhaka has now signed for Bayer Leverkusen.

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Mikel Arteta, Edu and company were reluctant to sanction a move as long as the Rice transfer was not yet under wraps, but they have now given the green light for the Swiss to return to Germany.

Xhaka back in the Bundesliga

The 30-year-old heads back to the Bundesliga after seven years at the Emirates, having made a €45m move from Borussia Monchengladbach in 2016. Under Arteta, Xhaka cleaned up his act and recaptured the form that had once made him one of Europe's most sought-after midfielders.

The Swiss leaves Arsenal as a bigger leader and much calmer presence than when he arrived and he will flush a decent amount in the Gunners' coffers. According to Fabrizio Romano, Bayer Leverkusen are prepared to part with €25m to land Xhaka.

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The midfielder will become part of an exciting Leverkusen project under Xabi Alonso and he will reunite with German international and former Gladbach teammate Jonas Hofmann who recently completed a shock move to the BayArena. With Xhaka out the door, a Rice announcement is only a matter of time.