Overview
- Multiple outlets reported on Saturday that Granit Xhaka has given a verbal agreement to join Chelsea and work again with coach Xabi Alonso.
- Chelsea has opened contact with AFC Sunderland, but Sunderland still holds Xhaka under contract until 2028 so a club-to-club deal must be reached.
- Transfer reporter Fabrizio Romano said Xhaka would accept contract terms to move to Chelsea, though no formal contract or medical has been completed.
- Talks intensified during the World Cup while Xhaka is with the Switzerland squad, which has slowed public progress on any official paperwork.
- Xhaka spent 2016–2023 at Arsenal and won the 2023/24 double with Alonso at Bayer Leverkusen, and a completed move would reunite a proven player-coach pairing.