GRANIT XHAKA will finally complete his long-awaited move to Bayer Leverkusen this week after Arsenal agreed a £21.5million fee for the Swiss international.
The deal, first revealed by Sunsport in May, has been on hold for the past two months while the clubs haggled over the price.
But now they have reached an agreement for the 30-year-old midfielder who only has 12 more months to run on his Emirates contract.
Now Xhaka, who cost Arsenal £30million when they signed him from Borussia Moenchengladbach in 2016, will sign a long-term contract with Leverkusen with the possibility of a future coaching role with the Bundesliga club.
The deal represents a major success for Arsenal, who are making a conscious effort to recoup serious money in the transfer market after years of being forced into accepting cut-price fees for surplus players.
Leverkusen were originally hoping to sign Xhaka for around £12million but have reluctantly been forced to raise their offer.
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His departure will also clear £7.5million off the annual wage bill as part of Mikel Arteta’s major summer overhaul.
Arsenal are also digging their heels in with unsettled striker Folarin Balogun, who has been told his asking price has been set at a whopping £50million.
Balogun has seen his value soar on the back of his 21 French League goals for Reims last season while on loan.
But the recently capped USA international, who celebrated his 22nd birthday today, has only started one Premier League game for Arsenal.
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And though last season’s goalscoring exploits have generated plenty of interest across Europe, Arsenal’s demands could prove to be a major stumbling block for a player who has made it clear that he does not want to stay if he is only going to be a bit-part player.
Other squad players including Nicolas Pepe, Rob Holding, Nuno Tavareas, and Cedric Soares are also expected to generate some kind of transfer fee before they are allowed to leave this summer
Arteta has been told that the club needs to balance the books to stay on the right side of financial fair play.
They have already forked out £65million to complete the signing of Kai Havertz from Chelsea and are committed to a further £105million for Declan Rice and £45million for Jurrien Timber.
Although a club record fee has been agreed with for Rice, negotiations are still ongoing with West Ham over the payment plan.
Arsenal were hoping to spread the payments over five years while West Ham want all the money within 18 months.
A compromise deal has yet to be reached although both parties are confident the purchase will go ahead before Arsenal fly to Washington for the start of their pre-season tour of the US on July 16.
An agreement for Ajax defender Timber is also expected to be concluded within the next week, with the 22-year-old Dutch international earmarked to be Arteta’s first choice right-back in the new season.
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