Arsenal midfielder wanted as part of €100m spending spree

Is it the transfer season yet? No, it isn’t, but even with Arsenal having 16 matches left to play in the league when has that stopped the rumour mill churning out gossip?

Thursday’s hard fought 1-0 win over Wolves saw the welcome return of the Gunners’ preferred midfield pairing of Granit Xhaka and Thomas Partey, after the duo had finished serving their respective suspensions.

Neither impacted the game a great deal in an attacking sense, but combined they performed their defensive duties valiantly and were regularly seen popping up in their own box to make vital interceptions and tackles.

Between now and the end of the season, keeping these two in the double pivot will be crucial to the Gunners securing their remaining target this season of a Premier League top four finish.

Arsenal midfielder Granit Xhaka wanted as part of €100m spending spree at Roma with Jose Mourinho keen on fresh transfer swoop

But what about after that? Having failed to agree on a fee with Roma last season for Xhaka’s services, the speculation has yet to die down linking Jose Mourinho’s side with a return attempt to sign the Swiss captain.

The latest talk to come out of Italy is courtesy of Gazzetta dello Sport (via Sport Witness) – who were on the case for much of the previous summer – who claim that Xhaka is still a top target for Mourinho and is one of three pieces of business he aims to conclude in the summer as part of a ‘revolution’.

They always like using snappy words like that.

Xhaka joins Marcos Senesi, currently at Feyenoord, and Filip Kostic of Eintracht Frankfurt as part of a trio of deals thought to set Roma back in the region of €100m.

If that is the case then Xhaka’s value must have risen exponentially since the £13m that Roma were willing to pay last summer: Senesi is at financially stricken Feyenoord and Kostic is 29 years old with a contract expiring in 2023.

With focus on Arsenal, though, what is apparent is that Mourinho hasn’t given up the chase for Xhaka at some stage in the future. Equally Xhaka won’t have closed the door on a move away at the end of the season despite penning an extension until 2024 back in August. UK outlets also claim it’s a move that Roma will push for, and one the 29-year-old is keen on making.

How much will the Champions League impact a move away, though? If Xhaka does play his part in firing the Gunners back into the elite European competition then he may think twice about moving due to him featuring only seven times in the competition for Arsenal and not at all since the infamous 10-2 drubbing at the hands of Bayern Munich in 2017.

Given the option with there being so much other business to conclude over the summer, Arteta may not be overly keen on letting him go either. The supposed ‘gentleman’s agreement’ many thought was in place during the previous summer could have expired.