Arsenal are reportedly willing to use Granit Xhaka as part of an offer for Borussia Monchengladbach midfielder Denis Zakaria, a player who’s also wanted by Manchester United.
Xhaka’s relationship with Arsenal and fanbase has turned quite sour in recent times, something which comes after the player was stripped of his responsibilities as Gunners skipper.
And now, it seems like the Swiss international could be used by the Gunners as part of a deal to land one of the Bundesliga’s top midfielders in the form of Zakaria.
According to the Mirror, Arsenal are going to offer Xhaka to Monchengladbach in order to help them in their attempts to sign Zakaria, with Xhaka already set to leave the club in January either way.
It seems like the Gunners are to use Xhaka as a way to beat Man United to Zakaria’s signature, as the Red Devils are also in the hunt for the 22-year-old according to another report from the Mirror.
Since moving to Germany, Zakaria has bagged a total of eight goals and five assists in 82 games for Borussia Monchengladbach, a decent return when you consider the Swiss international is used as a defensive midfielder more often than not.
Both United and Arsenal could do with another defensive midfielder to choose from in their squads to help them prevent conceding goals, something Zakaria would definitely do if he were to move to England in the near future.
Bild have reportedly recently that Zakaria will cost around €50M (£42.7M), a decent price to pay for a player who’s still very young and has a large portion of his career ahead of him.
All that remains to be seen now is whether Arsenal or United end up winning the race for the Swiss man’s signature in the near future…