Fabrizio Romano says World Cup star pushing hard to join Chelsea because of Xabi Alonso | OneFootball

Fabrizio Romano has reported that Sunderland midfielder Granit Xhaka is “pushing hard” to join Chelsea and work under Xabi Alonso at Stamford Bridge.

It was on June 27 that it first emerged that Chelsea want to sign Xhaka from Sunderland in the summer transfer window.

New Chelsea manager Alonso worked with Xhaka at Bayer Leverkusen and won the Bundesliga title together in the 2023/24 campaign.

The situation has developed rapidly over the past few days, with Xhaka and Chelsea agreeing on ‘a full verbal agreement over a transfer’.

Chelsea have had their initial £8million bid for Xhaka already turned down by Sunderland.

There are rumours that Chelsea’s new offer for Xhaka will be £10m.

Sunderland, who signed Xhaka from Bayer Leverkusen in the summer of 2025 for a total fee of £17.5m, are adamant that they will not sell the midfielder, who is part of the Switzerland squad at the 2026 World Cup.

Transfer guru Romano has now brought an update on Xhaka’s situation.

Granit Xhaka determined to join Chelsea

According to the transfer guru, Chelsea are “dead serious” about the 33-year-old, who is “pushing hard” to complete a move to the London club.

Romano told Time2Play: “A year ago, Granit Xhaka was desperate to move to Italy. He was Igli Tare’s top target for AC Milan’s 2025/2026 project, but the deal collapsed, and Xhaka ended up at Sunderland.

“Today, Chelsea is getting dead serious about him.

“Xhaka wants back into London and is pushing hard to reunite with Xabi Alonso.

“Chelsea has already submitted an initial proposal and will improve it very soon.”

Marco Palestra underlines Xabi Alonso influence in Chelsea move

Alonso is clearly the key driver behind Chelsea’s pursuit of Xhaka, and the former Real Madrid manager also played a major role in getting a deal done with Atalanta for Marco Palestra.

Chelsea beat Inter Milan to the signing of the 21-year-old Italy international, who has signed a contract with the Blues until 2033.

Palestra told Chelsea’s official website about Alonso’s influence on the deal: “It was very important.

“I feel a lot of energy from him.

“Also, he is one of the best managers in the world [as you can see when] he won at Bayer Leverkusen.

“It’s important for me to have Xabi Alonso as the manager.

“I have had two conversations with him and I’m very happy because he told me what he wanted from me.

“I’m very happy to know him and to start training with Chelsea.”

Palestra further added: “A lot of things convinced me to join Chelsea, one of the best clubs in the world.

“I’m very excited to get started. I’ve felt the energy since the first day Chelsea wanted me. I can’t wait to start, see all the fans, my team-mates and the manager.

“We have so many talented players here, a very strong squad and manager in Xabi.

“He has spoken to me about how he wants us to play, which is exciting, and we can’t wait to compete in the Premier League.”