Soon after Granit Xhaka turned in a Man of the Match display that helped Switzerland upset the odds and knock France out of the Euros, news of a transfer bid for the Arsenal man was shared.
Angelo Mangiante of Sky Sports Italy reported that Roma have now made an official bid for the central midfielder, but it is quite a low-ball one of €12m plus €3m in potential add-ons.
Xhaka is expected to leave the Gunners this summer as they look to reshape their midfield and find a better partner for Thomas Partey, who struggled in his debut season after a big-money move.
Xhaka himself has teased an exit, with comments like this after the Swiss beat the French on penalties and also some other flattering talk specifically about Rome.
Some Arsenal fans have been completely taken aback by Mangiante’s update as the journalist reports that the 28-year-old is ‘very close’ to sealing a switch to side Jose Mourinho is about to take charge of.
A couple have called for the immediate sacking of technical director Edu Gaspar if the relatively low bid is accepted, considering the impact Xhaka is making at the Euros right now.
#AsRoma official bid to Arsenal for Xhaka is €12M + €3M add ons. #Xhaka wants to play with Mourinho in Rome.
He is very close to AsRoma. @SkySport #Transfers— Angelo Mangiante (@angelomangiante) June 28, 2021
Here is how some of the Arsenal faithful have reacted to the bid for Xhaka:
Get Edu out of this club if he sanctions this.
— Ben (@BenAFC) June 28, 2021
This club is such an embarrassment from top to bottom
— Brian (@ORLtragic) June 28, 2021
if we sell for this amount…Edu should be sacked in the morning
— Mbachan Takere (@MbachanT) June 28, 2021
Criminal if true.
— Zeb1886 (@zeb1886) June 28, 2021
Just keep him if they don’t want to pay a good price. He’s under contract and is worth more than 12m being here next season.
— Rich (@Richard27700612) June 29, 2021
Paying €15M for someone I’ve never heard of and losing Xhaka for €12M plus add ons. This club is such a joke.
— ArsenesWenger (@ArsenesWenger) June 28, 2021
If these figures are true we should keep him. We couldn’t buy a back up player for those sums
— All Arsenal Chatter (@allarsenalchat) June 29, 2021
Hasn’t Xhaka got 2 years on his contract?
We should say £20m or leave it not accept £12m lol
What’s the worst the could happen? He’s not transferred and we got a squad player.
— Kroenke Out (@YonkoAbbz) June 29, 2021
Some fans are pretty spot on with their commentary on the potential deal, whilst Arsenal would free themselves of Xhaka’s £100,000-a-week wages (per the Standard), a replacement of lesser experience and relatively unproven quality would likely cost them a higher transfer fee than they’d receive.
The swoop for Albert Sambi Lokonga for example, which is close to being completed, would cost the Gunners around €17.5m plus €4m or so in add-ons, according to Fabrizio Romano.
Xhaka has played a key role for the Gunners since his €35m arrival in 2016, per BBC Sport, the ace didn’t even spend that much time on the sidelines after the outburst that saw him stripped of the captaincy.
Arsenal should not stoop so desperately low to part with a player, who despite having failed to live up to his price-tag since joining and being behind costly mistakes, who can still play a smaller role in the team.
I don’t care how good he is playing for Switzerland. I do not support Switzerland, I am an Arsenal fan and Xhaka’s time at this club has been nothing but a disaster. It is not a coincident that in every single season since he arrived at Arsenal on all the critical factors by which success is achieved the team has performed worse season upon season. Fewer chances created fewer goals scored, more mistakes leading to more goals against us, leading to fewer points leading to lower league position and ultimately now out of Europe’s top level competitions. Those are indisputable facts, the decline started with his inclusion in the the team in 2016 and will not stop until he is out of the club. Again I don’t care how much of a genius he is playing for Switzerland. I would take anything Roma are offering to get rid of the khunt.
I have repeatedly said in this column that the combination of Edu and Arteta is a very dangerous one as far as taking Arsenal to the level of the invincibles. Those two guys were mere mediocre midfielders at Arsenal. They are just novices when it comes to the management of a big club like Arsenal. Loot at the treatment they are giving to William Saliba and Dino Masropanos. It’s pathetic to say the least. The two had very successful loan stints but Edu and Arteta are not convinced at all. Saliba is earmarked to be sent on loan while Masropnous is earmarked to be sold permanently to Stuttgart for a mere £5m. That’s extraordinarily strange. Then comes the Xhaka issue. Xhaka should never be sold at all cost. Looking at the transfer bids Arsenal are tabling compared to other serious clubs one will not need a rocket scientist to tell why this club is missing European football for the first time in 25 years.