Football General Manager
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- Granit Xhaka greenlit Saudi move
- Midfielder to snub AC Milan
- Also has new interest from Turkey
Milan’s plan for a midfield revolution has hit a roadblock. According to Sky Sport the 32-year-old has reached a verbal agreement with Saudi club Neom SC. The Swiss midfielder can reportedly earn up to €10 million per year should the move go through. This comes as a blow for Milan who were planning to re-negotiate with Bayer Leverkusen after their failed bid for Club Brugge‘s Ardon Jashari.
The Saudi club have contacted Bayer Leverkusen, and the two clubs have been discussing transfer fees. Reportedly, the German club have put a price tag of €6m on the ex-Arsenal player. The negotiations are progressing well, with the clubs expected to reach an agreement this week. Turkish giants Fenerbahce are also keeping tabs on Xhaka and might make a move for the midfielder should his switch to Saudi fall through.
Xhaka’s future has been extremely uncertain after the departure of former head coach Xabi Alonso. The player was also in talks with Milan earlier and had agreed to a move to Italy, but the clubs could not reach an agreement. The talks eventually died down further after Milan’s bid for Jashari. After Brugge rejected Milan’s initial bid, the Italian club wanted to reopen talks for the Swiss player, but Saudi’s involvement brings new complications.
The 2023-24 Bundesliga champions wanted Xhaka to continue in Germany, having lost many key players such as Florian Wirtz, Jeremie Frimpong and Jonathan Tah. New head coach Erik ten Hag had major plans for the central midfielder and wanted him to lead the team in the upcoming season. However, with many clubs interested, it will be a hard task for the Dutch manager to hold onto the midfielder.
