Arsenal ‘very, very advanced’ for first summer transfer, Fabrizio Romano reveals

Robin Bairner

• 19 May 2023 08:53 BST
• 3 min read

Arsenal’s first piece of business in the 2023 summer transfer window could be completed imminently, with Fabrizio Romano revealing that one particular deal is “very, very advanced”.

Mikel Arteta’s side have defied expectations this season to launch a genuine bid to win the Premier League title, and even if it appears they will come up just short against Manchester City, they are in position to mount another challenge next term.

Arteta is in the process of trying to finetune his squad, and while that means bringing in improvements in certain areas, it also means allowing others to leave.

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And one of those who is poised to depart is Granit Xhaka, with Romano revealing that the Switzerland international star is close to sealing a move back to the Bundesliga.

Taking to Twitter, the journalist reported: “No Borussia Dortmund or any other club in the race for Granit Xhaka at this stage. It’s only Bayer Leverkusen — and deal is very, very advanced.

“The agreement between Arsenal and Leverkusen is at final stages for €15m fee — waiting on next steps to get it done.”

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Arsenal not getting value for money on Xhaka

Xhaka only has a year left on his contract at the Emirates Stadium and has previously played in the Bundesliga for Borussia Monchengladbach.

His time at Arsenal has been something of a rollercoaster, with the 30-year-old apparently on his way out before Arteta came to save him when he had been exiled under Unai Emery and was public enemy No.1 with the fans.

The turnaround since then has been profound, with Xhaka one of the heroes of Arsenal’s season.

A €15m transfer fee, meanwhile, is significantly below the €45m Arsenal paid for him in 2016 but also below his Estimated Transfer Value (ETV), which sits at over €31m at present.

FootballTransfers understands that Arsenal have already made contact with West Ham’s Declan Rice over a potential summer transfer and have targeted Brighton’s Moises Caicedo as their leading midfield option.