‘Not My Job’ - Granit Xhaka Comments For First Time on Sunderland to Chelsea move

Sunderland captain Granit Xhaka has said that it is ‘not his job’ when probed about his prospective move to Chelsea this summer. 

Away from Wearside, Xhaka’s national side, Switzerland, have progressed in the knockout stages of the 2026 World Cup tournament after beating Algeria 2-0 in the early hours of Friday morning. 

A first-half goal from Breel Embolo opened the scoring for Switzerland before Dan Ndoye of Nottingham Forest doubled their advantage in the early moments after the interval, to set up Xhaka’s Swiss teammates for a Round of 16 clash against the winners of Colombia vs Ghana.

Despite Switzerland advancing into the final 16 of the tournament, the headlines surrounding Xhaka have been dominated by the Sunderland captain’s potential move to Chelsea. 

Xhaka wants to leave Sunderland for Chelsea after just one season at the Stadium of Light, in which he captained the Black Cats to a seventh-placed finish and qualification for the Europa League with two league victories over Chelsea in the process, to move back to London and link back up with his former beloved Bayer Leverkusen boss Xabi Alonso. 

Chelsea’s £8m opening bid for Xhaka was laughed out of the room by the Sunderland transfer team, and the Blues are reportedly set to return to the negotiating table with an improved offer.

However, the two clubs still appear to be distant in their respective valuations of the Swiss veteran.

Amid the ongoing transfer saga, Xhaka has publicly commented on the move for the first time, with his telling comments coming in the wake of Switzerland’s Round of 32 win over Algeria.

In a telling admission from the Sunderland skipper, Xhaka has in not so many words, told the Black Cats faithful that he will be leaving this summer. 

As quoted by Swiss media outlet Blick, Xhaka said of the Sunderland to Chelsea transfer rumours: "That's not my job. I have my management for that. I want to concentrate fully on the World Cup."

What makes the 33-year-old midfielder’s comments so telling, is that the marquee Sunderland man had the opportunity to shut down the transfer saga and start regaining trust from the Black Cats fanbase, but he chose to do the opposite. 

With his unusual short answer when handed the microphone, Xhaka has placed the responsibility onto his management regarding the move, who have clearly sought to engineer this prospective transfer without the prior knowledge of the Stadium of Light hierarchy. 

Reading between the lines, by not shutting down the rumours, Xhaka has stated that he wants the Chelsea move but has failed to place his chips either way in case the move does not materialise.

Currently, Sunderland and Chelsea are reportedly around £15m-£20m apart in terms of the fee that the Black Cats would begrudgingly accept for Xhaka, and the amount that the Blues are willing to relinquish for newly-appointed Alonso’s number one target. 

By resolving himself of any personal responsibility for engineering the move and placing the blame onto others, much unlike the selfless leader he has shown himself to be, Xhaka has burnt many of the last remaining bridges he had on Wearside. 

With Xhaka’s feelings now made by his own admission, it clearly shows his intent to jump ship from Sunderland after just one remarkable season, leaving it up to the two clubs to come to an agreement for the Swiss captain as the most dramatic transfer saga of the summer takes another bitter twist for the Black Cats.