Sunderland Turn Down Chelsea Offer For Midfielder Granit Xhaka

Earlier on this week, the shock news that Chelsea had decided to make a move for Sunderland midfielder Granit Xhaka was reported, with it being said that he had agreed personal terms on a move to SW6. 

That said, once you numbed it down, it made sense. The Swiss veteran had been an absolutely crucial part of the invincible, double winning Bayer Leverkusen side under new Chelsea manager Xabi Alonso.

Plus, the Blues are in clear need of experience. The squad building in the past few years has almost been exclusively been with a view to recruiting young players with a sell on value. Well, sometimes you need some experience to balance things out. 

At the moment, Xhaka is at the FIFA World Cup in the USA, Canada and Mexico, so any potential deal may take a while. Although he has seemingly had time to agree personal terms with the club, he would probably want to wait until after the tournament to officially finalize things. 

Well, one other thing that may stall a deal is Chelsea's opening offer. Indeed, as David Ornstein of The Athletic has this evening (the 28th of June) reported that Sunderland have rejected an £8m pound offer for the 33-year old. 

Not only have they rejected a deal, but, as per Ornstein, they have told Chelsea that the player is not for sale at any valuation. He says that whilst the Blues feel it was a fair offer, Sunderland do not agree and believe it is a lack of respect to both themselves and Xhaka himself. 

Certainly an interesting report, and one that puts a spanner in the works. It suggests that the aforementioned reporting that the club were willing to bid in excess of £25m were well off the mark. 

In the same article, Simon Johnson states that this proves that the club's desire to buy ready made players is not just all talk, and points to the interest in 26 year old Maxence Lacroix of another indication of this. He also mentions that a then 31-year old Kalidou Koulibaly is the oldest signing of the Clearlake era so far, but that with his experience of the Premier League, Xhaka would be able to adapt much quicker than that ill fated signing. 

Let's see what happens, but this is the biggest indication yet that a deal may well not happen. Which is a bit awkward, as Sunderland fans have already made up their minds on the player, and not in a good way. At all.