Chelsea to Submit Second Granit Xhaka Bid as Sunderland Asking Price Revealed

Chelsea are set to table a second, and improved, offer for Sunderland captain Granit Xhaka in the coming days as the transfer saga continues to fuel anxiety among the Black Cats faithful.

Days ago, the transfer revelation spread across social media when news broke that Chelsea had bid for Sunderland skipper Xhaka, with a reported £8m offer sent to the Stadium of Light hierarchy.

As a result of his importance to the Black Cats project and the laughably low fee, Sunderland swiftly rejected Chelsea's opening bid for Xhaka, with the club's decision-makers insisting that the Swiss midfielder was not for sale this summer.

According to transfer insider Fabrizio Romano, the main reasons why Xhaka wants to leave for Sunderland for Chelsea are to relocate back to London, where he lived for almost a decade during his lengthy association with Arsenal, and to work under Xabi Alonso once again.

Alonso and Xhaka enjoyed a close relationship during their two seasons together at Bayer Leverkusen, during which the Swiss skipper captained Alonso's side to an unbeaten Bundesliga title win at the behest of serial German title winners Bayern Munich.

Xhaka left Leverkusen for the Stadium of Light last summer in the wake of the Spaniard's move to Real Madrid, which was short-lived and has seen the ex-Liverpool midfielder be appointed at the Stamford Bridge helm in place of Liam Rosenior.

However, if Alonso is to get his wish and see Chelsea sign Xhaka this summer, then his parent club and prospective suitors will need to come to an agreement when the Blues return to the negotiating table in the coming days, but that seems unlikely according to multiple reports.

Chelsea have not given up hopes of signing Xhaka from Sunderland this summer, but the major stumbling block to the deal remains the transfer fee involved for the 33-year-old midfielder, who was the Black Cats' Player of the Season last term.

According to a report from Caught Offside, Chelsea are said to be willing to go up to £10m for Xhaka, which would be a minimal £2m bump on their opening offer, which would evidently be some distance from the fee Sunderland would begrudgingly accept for their marquee man.

From the Black Cats' perspective, TalkSPORT indicates that Sunderland are asking for a fee in excess of £30m for the Swiss stalwart, meaning that there is an estimated £20m discrepancy between the fee Chelsea are said to be willing to relinquish and the number that his parent club would deem acceptable for Xhaka.

Given his importance to Sunderland both on and off the field, his superlative form in the heart of Regis Le Bris' midfield over the course of the last campaign, and given that it would take sufficient funds to replace him in the current summer transfer window, a fee towards the Black Cats' asking price shows that the Stadium of Light bosses deem him not for sale.

With Chelsea set to table an improved offer for Xhaka, only time will tell as to whether their second bid will be anywhere close to Sunderland's asking price as the most dramatic transfer saga of the summer window rages on.