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Granit Xhaka has completed his long awaited move back to the Bundesliga and rejoined Bayer Leverkusen.
The Swiss international captain had hoped that the transfer would have been concluded sooner, and had indicated that the Premier League game against Wolves might have been his last game for the club.
However, the move was put on hold whilst the Gunners found a replacement, but with the signing of Kai Havertz and the imminent arrival of Declan Rice he will finally get his wish.
In addition, the London club are going to receive more money for him than the Germans were originally prepared to pay, with his final transfer fee likely to be around £21.5 million.
Having now passed his medical with the German club, he is now free to join Leverkusen’s pre-season training camp.
He had one year left on his existing deal at the Emirates, and leaves with an immense amount of goodwill having completely rehabilitated his reputation in North London after the events of 2019 when he stormed off the pitch and threw the captain’s armband away after being substituted in a match against Crystal Palace.
Andy is an exiled English football fan living in Cyprus. He loves all sports but football is his abiding passion, and he still has dreams every now and then about scoring the winning goal in a Wembley Cup Final, even though his playing days are long gone. He follows most major leagues, across Europe at least, and has a favoured team in each. When he’s not watching, listening, reading or downloading podcasts about football, he spend his time worrying about his beloved Arsenal.