Arsenal reject €13m Granit Xhaka offer with swap deal next

Arsenal have rejected Roma’s opening offer for Granit Xhaka of €13m plus bonuses with the Italian side set to return with a potential swap deal involving two players.

Selling Granit Xhaka this window no longer appears to be a case of maybe, but indeed when. His desire is to leave north London and draw a curtain on his Gunners career, just as Arsenal should be sanctioning his sale and opening new doors.

Not at that pathetic offer, however.

€13m comes in at just over £11m, which is well below Arsenal’s valuation and rightly so. News of the offer comes courtesy of La Gazzetta dello Sport, who state that unless a figure of €20m is met, which will include bonuses, then Arsenal won’t budge.

Arsenal reject €13m Granit Xhaka offer with swap deal involving Amadou Diawara and Cengiz Under mooted

Roma aren’t blessed with money like pretty much every football club on the continent, and as a result are looking to throw in some makeweights in their deal to sweeten the deal.

The first name on the list is Amadou Diawara, a player who Arsenal have been linked with numerous times since he made the switch to Roma from Napoli in 2019. The Guinean (more AFCON issues) has failed to nail down a regular starting berth in the Italian capital, making 40 Serie A outings over his two seasons.

At 23 years old the defensive midfielder has room to develop, yet Xhaka’s arrival would spell the end of his chances at Stadio Olimpico thus is being considered as an option: one Arsenal should not even consider entertaining. He’s solid on his day but not the standard required, and his arrival would constitute a downgrade on Xhaka which obviously makes no sense.

Mikel Arteta doesn’t need a right footed holding midfielder of average quality.

The second mention is even more laughable. Cengiz Ünder, who the Turkish press claim Arsenal are fans of (it’s important to almost much never trust rumours emanating from Turkish media), is said to be a dispensable figure for I Giallorossi, with Jose Mourinho said to want to give him one final look before deciding on his future.

This was someone who was on loan at Leicester for the entirety of the 2020/21 campaign, making 19 appearances overall and scoring twice. He was way off meeting the demands of English football. Arsenal also don’t need another right-winger.

Whatever gets thrown in the direction of north London apart from the Gunners’ valuation can only be met with one answer. It’s pay up or shut up. Unless, that is, Nicolò Zaniolo gets thrown in and he suddenly has brand new knees. Maybe Lorenzo Pellegrini, too. Otherwise, there is nothing Roma can offer that Arsenal should want other than cold, hard cash.