The latest on Chelsea’s ongoing pursuit of Sunderland midfielder Granit Xhaka, with Xabi Alonso desperate to reunite with the former Bayer Leverkusen star
Chelsea are preparing to send a new-and-improved offer to Sunderland for midfielder Granit Xhaka in the near future.
The Blues saw an £8million offer for the Switzerland international knocked back on Sunday, with senior officials at the Black Cats understood to be infuriated by how low the opening bid was. Despite Sunderland’s anger and their stubborn stance of Xhaka not being for sale, Chelsea have not been deterred, and sources say the west Londoners are lining up a second offer for the midfielder.
Xhaka is said to be keen on moving to Stamford Bridge to reunite with his former Bayer Leverkusen boss Xabi Alonso, who officially started his job at Chelsea on Wednesday. Alonso led Bayer to a historic Bundesliga title triumph in the 2023/24 season, where Xhaka played an enormous part under the Spaniard in Germany.
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Chelsea are on the hunt for ‘ready-made’ players, with BlueCo tweaking their youth-centric recruitment model under Alonso. Xhaka fits the bill in that regard, with the 33-year-old winning eight major honours over the course of his 16-year professional career.
The Blues confirmed the £47m signing of Marco Palestra on Wednesday afternoon, with the versatile Italian defender committing to the west Londoners on a long-term contract. Elsewhere, Chelsea remain interested in Maxence Lacroix from Crystal Palace and are also advancing in negotiations over a deal to sign Rayo Vallecano left back Pep Chavarria.
