The big Arsenal transfer rumour at the beginning of the transfer window was the announcement that Jose Mourinho had made Granit Xhaka his priority signing for Roma when he was appointed to be the new coach.
But Xhaka was at the Euros with Switzerland, and at the start of the tournament he made it clear that there would be no transfer discussions while the tournament was in progress. In fact, what he actually said was…. ‘There are always rumours at the end of the season, that’s for sure,’ Xhaka said in RP Online in Germany.
‘But I still have a two-year contract in London and I am very happy with my family here.
‘First of all, I’m looking at a successful Euro 2020 with the national team.’
And he did have a great tournament with his country, but he was constantly asked about the Roma links, especially when the Swiss were playing their quarter final in the Italian capital. He was actually asked if he was going to do the interview in Italian, and he laughed at them, and this is how The Sun reported it….
And Xhaka, 28, was asked on Monday night if he will soon be answering questions from the press in Italian.
He laughed and replied: “Not yet…
“It is always interesting to learn a new language.
He added: “Let’s see, everyone knows what Roma represent.
“Now I am an Arsenal player, I will speak after the tournament.”
Then in the next interview, he made yet another joke….
As you can see, Granit was simply winding up the Italian media, as he knows full well that Mikel Arteta is hardly going to sell his most consistent midfielder with two years left on his contract. Not to mention that he has a newly-born baby on his hands which makes it a very difficult time to up sticks and move to another country.
But the rumours continued, and strangely, despite Switzerland having left the Euros some time ago, the media are now saying that Roma wouldn’t meet Arsenal’s asking price, rather than admit they were completely wrong about the rumours.
Charlie Watts said this week on his YouTube transfer Podcast: “Granit Xhaka to Roma, that still hasn’t happened. Roma still haven’t put in a bid that is acceptable for Arsenal. Granit Xhaka has been on holiday for a while now as well because Switzerland went out [of the European Championship] a while ago, so it won’t be too long before he’ll be due to report back to London Colney, which just a few weeks ago didn’t look like that was certainly going to be happening.
“But if Roma don’t put the money up and don’t pay up, then that could end up happening.”
Well, that is exactly what will happen, and there will be many apologies expected from JA Readers after I went against the grain and told everyone that Xhaka would NOT be leaving this summer. I was roundly abused and told I was writing “clickbait”. One reader wrote: This article should be be taken down just for your sake or are you waiting for Fabrizio Romano to confirm it?😂
Another famous reader on the site went a little further when he said: An obstinate reluctance to accept the news that is plainly happening is not something done by true thinkers and wiser fans, I’d suggest, Admin PAT. Even you son Patrick, aka Gooner Boy, accepts he is leaving but still you refuse to accept it. Odd, ID SAY!
If anyone wants reminding about their comments, you can read the article again here.…
It’s not often I get to gloat, so I’m just going to end with … I TOLD YOU SO!…..
Admin Pat