- Matthaus slams Ten Hag over Xhaka exit
- Sunderland land ex-Leverkusen midfield leader
- ألمانيا legend shocked with key exits
It’s been a brutal few months for Leverkusen. In addition to Xhaka’s departure, their talismanic coach, Xabi Alonso, walked away to take the reins at ريال مدريد. Meanwhile, star defender Jonathan Tah joined بايرن ميونيخ, and Florian Wirtz and Jeremie Frimpong both completed blockbuster moves to ليفربول. Long-serving goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky also left for موناكو.
The Xhaka transfer was especially a bitter pill to swallow. The deal with Sunderland was completed shortly after Ten Hag publicly assured fans that there would be “no more departures” from the squad; a statement that immediately aged like milkonce Xhaka was pictured holding up his new red and white shirt at the Stadium of Light.
التحدث إلى SportBild كأس العالم winner Matthaus ripped into the Leverkusen hierarchy, and Ten Hag in particular, for allowing Xhaka to walk away.
“Xabi Alonso to Real Madrid. Jonathan Tah to FC Bayern. Florian Wirtz and Jeremie Frimpong to Liverpool. Lukas Hradecky to Monaco, and then Granit Xhaka to Sunderland! I can hardly remember seeing a more drastic upheaval at a top team,” he said.
“Most of the departures are understandable and couldn’t have been prevented. I just don’t accept that in Xhaka’s case! Erik ten Hag must accept the criticism of not fighting harder for the strategist and the heart of the team.”
Xhaka’s arrival is a massive statement of intent from Sunderland, who are looking to cement themselves as more than just الدوري الإنجليزي الممتاز survivors. The former أرسنال midfielder brings over 300 games of top-flight experience, a fiery competitive edge, and a knack for dictating games from deep midfield. Sunderland kick off their Premier League campaign at home against وست هام on Saturday, August 16, with the veteran midfielder tipped to make his full debut.
