Well, yesterday it all looked like Arsenal’s deal for Granit Xhaka was as good as done and dusted, but according to the Monchengladbach sporting director Max Eberl, the Bundesliga club won’t even entertain talks with the Gunners until they come up with a more reasonable bid.
The massive German sports paper Bild are reporting that Arsenal have only made a bid of €25 million (£19.1m) for the Switzerland international, which is nowhere near the price that Gladbach are seeking which is much higher at €40m (£30.7m).
We all know that the Arsenal negotiators are famous for trying to get as small a price as possible, but this time they will have to loosen the purse strings a bit more if they are determined to get their man.
This report from Bild is definitely genuine as they also include a quote from Max Eberl, who makes it clear that Gladbach are serious about refusing to sell cheaply. He said: “There is an offer, but it does not mean that we will allow Granit a transfer for that price. We really don’t need to discuss the fee proposed in the offer.”
So we can put away the bunting for the time being, as it looks like we are still far away from making our first signing. And it all looked so positive yesterday….
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