Sunderland close in on former Arsenal midfielder Granit Xhaka
Switzerland international Xhaka, who began his career at Basel before heading for Borussia Monchengladbach, spent seven years with the Gunners and is well acquainted with England's top flight.
He joined Arsenal in a £35million switch from Monchengladbach during the summer of 2016 and made 297 appearances for the club, winning two FA Cups, before returning to Germany with Leverkusen in July 2023.
Xhaka, who has been caped 137 times by his country, won the league title at the end of his first season and made 49 appearances in all competitions, 10 of them in the Champions League, during the last campaign.
A combative player, Xhaka was stripped of the Arsenal captaincy in November 2019 after a heated exchange with home fans at the Emirates Stadium.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
BBC News
26 minutes ago
- BBC News
Lioness star Chloe Kelly's 'Omagh blood' helped win Euros says relative
A family in Omagh are revelling in the success of their distant relative, Lioness star Chloe Kelly after she led England to victory over Spain in the Women's Euro coming on in the first half, the Arsenal forward not only set up the equaliser but then went on to score the winning penalty against world champions Spain. Chloe's first cousin three times removed Liam Nugent, 79, watched every game she played at the Euros from his living told BBC News NI he was "very proud" of Chloe and he believes having "Omagh blood in her" has helped shape her success. Family tree "I'm trying to work that out myself", Liam laughed when asked his exact relation to the England international. "Chloe's great grandfather Henry was my first cousin and her grandfather Brendan was my second cousin," he told BBC News grandfather Brendan was originally from Gortrush Park in Omagh. When his father Henry got a promotion, the family moved from the Nestle factory in Omagh to the outskirts of London. Brendan used to visit Liam and his family in Omagh before he passed away but Chloe herself has never been. "I've never met the wee girl to tell you the truth. I'd love to meet her." 'Very proud of her' "I'm very proud of her. I'm delighted for her to tell you the truth.""I think she's a fabulous player, she makes a wild difference when she comes on there's no doubt about it. That's my opinion anyway but I'm probably a bit bias but I think she's fabulous.""I think she did brilliantly and she gave a great interview after."Liam said he couldn't watch the screen during Kelly's Euro winning penalty. "I just closed my eyes and just prayed because she missed a penalty a couple of days before and I thought, please don't miss it and God I heard the roar and opened my eyes and the ball was in the net. It was great."My son and my grandchildren think she's fabulous and they would be big into football."Football appears to run through the family, with Chloe's great grandfather Henry playing for one of the local Omagh teams in the 1930s and 40s."He played football here and was supposed to be very good," Liam insisted that being from Omagh has "definitely" helped Chloe. "She's got the Omagh blood in her, we're all great people down here you know."You can listen back to Liam's pre-match interview on BBC Radio Ulster's Sunday with Anna Curran.
North Wales Chronicle
39 minutes ago
- North Wales Chronicle
Leah Williamson hails ‘brave' England for being vulnerable in bid for Euro glory
The Arsenal defender became the first England football captain to lift two major tournament trophies – and a first on foreign soil – after Chloe Kelly scored the winning penalty in a dramatic 3-1 comeback shootout triumph over Women's World Cup holders Spain in Basel. It was the culmination of a topsy-turvy campaign described by manager Sarina Wiegman as 'ridiculous' and likened to a roller coaster by more than one member of her squad in Switzerland. Williamson said: 'I think, basically, you can have all of those (motivational) words, and sport has all those words circulating all the time, and then you have people that choose, it's really brave to put that into action and then decide that you're going to go for it. 'You leave yourself vulnerable, and if you try really, really hard, and it's not quite enough, then that's an awful feeling. 'I think to put yourself out there like that, the reward is so great, and we were brave enough to do it, and I think that's the key to the team. 'And Sarina, I just think she believes in us so much, it's hard not to believe that yourself. She said the same thing as she said before, 'we don't have to win, we really want to win, and we're capable of winning, so it's up to you girls'.' Sunday's victory was a fairy-tale ending for Kelly, who also scored the extra-time winner at Wembley when England lifted their first major trophy at Euro 2022. In January, the 27-year-old was feeling like an outcast at Manchester City, to the point of wondering if she would carry on in football, desperate for more playing time to earn her spot on England's plane to Switzerland. Kelly secured a deadline-day loan to Arsenal, since signing a permanent contract with the Women's Champions League winners that looked increasingly like a great deal for the Gunners with each passing day of this tournament. Williamson fought through an ankle issue in Switzerland, and it was Kelly who reassured her clubmate after Cata Coll saved the England captain's penalty in the final. 'I hit it a bit too low,' said Williamson. 'I'd have put it a bit higher if I could go back, but on the way back, Chloe said to me, 'don't worry about it, don't worry about it'. Leah and European trophies, it just works. 🏆 — Lionesses (@Lionesses) July 28, 2025 'And I think if there's anybody who is going to tell me that in a penalty shootout, I'll take it off her.' England forward Lauren Hemp had no words to describe how she felt after watching Kelly fire the winner past Coll. She said: 'It's hard to describe, I'm speechless, it's incredible. The fight this team has shown from minute one of the tournament to now, it's incredible and it's nothing short of what this group deserves. 'I feel like this team has shown belief throughout every single fixture and even when it went to penalties, we all believed.' The Lionesses won Euro 2025 despite leading for just four minutes and 52 seconds of the entire knockout stages, including stoppage time. Presented with that statistic, Hemp added: 'It's amazing and this group is so special. The grit, the determination we showed, it's not luck. 'It doesn't happen once, twice or three times for it to be luck. This is pure determination from this group. We're all knackered, we're all absolutely exhausted and we deserve that.'
Rhyl Journal
41 minutes ago
- Rhyl Journal
Leah Williamson hails ‘brave' England for being vulnerable in bid for Euro glory
The Arsenal defender became the first England football captain to lift two major tournament trophies – and a first on foreign soil – after Chloe Kelly scored the winning penalty in a dramatic 3-1 comeback shootout triumph over Women's World Cup holders Spain in Basel. It was the culmination of a topsy-turvy campaign described by manager Sarina Wiegman as 'ridiculous' and likened to a roller coaster by more than one member of her squad in Switzerland. Williamson said: 'I think, basically, you can have all of those (motivational) words, and sport has all those words circulating all the time, and then you have people that choose, it's really brave to put that into action and then decide that you're going to go for it. 'You leave yourself vulnerable, and if you try really, really hard, and it's not quite enough, then that's an awful feeling. 'I think to put yourself out there like that, the reward is so great, and we were brave enough to do it, and I think that's the key to the team. 'And Sarina, I just think she believes in us so much, it's hard not to believe that yourself. She said the same thing as she said before, 'we don't have to win, we really want to win, and we're capable of winning, so it's up to you girls'.' Sunday's victory was a fairy-tale ending for Kelly, who also scored the extra-time winner at Wembley when England lifted their first major trophy at Euro 2022. In January, the 27-year-old was feeling like an outcast at Manchester City, to the point of wondering if she would carry on in football, desperate for more playing time to earn her spot on England's plane to Switzerland. Kelly secured a deadline-day loan to Arsenal, since signing a permanent contract with the Women's Champions League winners that looked increasingly like a great deal for the Gunners with each passing day of this tournament. Williamson fought through an ankle issue in Switzerland, and it was Kelly who reassured her clubmate after Cata Coll saved the England captain's penalty in the final. 'I hit it a bit too low,' said Williamson. 'I'd have put it a bit higher if I could go back, but on the way back, Chloe said to me, 'don't worry about it, don't worry about it'. Leah and European trophies, it just works. 🏆 — Lionesses (@Lionesses) July 28, 2025 'And I think if there's anybody who is going to tell me that in a penalty shootout, I'll take it off her.' England forward Lauren Hemp had no words to describe how she felt after watching Kelly fire the winner past Coll. She said: 'It's hard to describe, I'm speechless, it's incredible. The fight this team has shown from minute one of the tournament to now, it's incredible and it's nothing short of what this group deserves. 'I feel like this team has shown belief throughout every single fixture and even when it went to penalties, we all believed.' The Lionesses won Euro 2025 despite leading for just four minutes and 52 seconds of the entire knockout stages, including stoppage time. Presented with that statistic, Hemp added: 'It's amazing and this group is so special. The grit, the determination we showed, it's not luck. 'It doesn't happen once, twice or three times for it to be luck. This is pure determination from this group. We're all knackered, we're all absolutely exhausted and we deserve that.'
