Granit Xhaka was supposedly all giddy about the possibility of reuniting with his old manager, Xabi Alonso at Chelsea, but apparently that was just a bit of Casa Amor dalliance, and he’s now realized that his heart is truly with Sunderland. According to a Sky Sports exclusive, the 33-year-old midfielder “will be staying” after “reaffirming his commitment” to the Black Cats. Isn’t that cute.
Yesterday, following Switzerland’s Round of 32 win at the World Cup, Xhaka briefly addressed the situation,
but didn’t say anything worthy of note.
“That’s not my job [to talk about a potential move to Chelsea]. I have my management for that. I want to concentrate fully on the World Cup.”
-Granit Xhaka; source: talkSport
Of course, had Chelsea made a bigger bid than the reported £8m we wafted in their general direction, the situation may have been different. Sunderland certainly value their captain a lot higher than that, despite his age. They paid nearly twice as much just twelve months ago, and since then things have only gotten better for them (including a bit of Europa League football coming up, which is something we can’t say ourselves).
Rumors claimed that they would’ve been open to talks at around £30m. So it’s probably best that we all just go back to our current couples. And considering that Enzo Fernández may not be leaving after all, despite his best wishes, we just might be alright, too.
