"Deal on" - Fabrizio Romano says Granit Xhaka ready to accept "surprise" Chelsea transfer | OneFootball

There’s some slightly bizarre Chelsea transfer news emerging this evening as Fabrizio Romano says Granit Xhaka could be ready to accept a move to Stamford Bridge.

The Blues seem to be genuinely in the mix for the signing of veteran Sunderland midfielder Xhaka, who is well known by the club’s new manager Xabi Alonso.

Xhaka played superbly under Alonso when they were together at Bayer Leverkusen, and also notably shone during his time at Arsenal.

The Switzerland international is now 33 years of age, so it’s perhaps a bit of a gamble for Chelsea, but he still looked like he was fully capable of doing the business in the Premier League last season.

“BREAKING: Granit Xhaka can be Chelsea surprise signing in midfield,” Fabrizio Romano posted on X.

“The midfielder wants to re-join Xabi Alonso and has expressed desire to return to London… …accepting any contract condition just to join #CFC, reunite with Xabi and go back to London. Deal on.”

Granit Xhaka transfer could signal a welcome change of direction by Chelsea

Xhaka is not the kind of signing anyone could really have seen coming, but it looks like a sensible bit of business from Chelsea.

The veteran Swiss ace may only realistically come in for a year or two for CFC, but in that time he could play a key role in helping this squad of young players.

And who knows, perhaps Xhaka can end up doing something similar to Luka Modric and play on until the age of 40.

For the time being, he’ll likely be key for Alonso on the pitch as he helps the new manager get his message across to these players.

There’ll likely be a few Arsenal fans wishing they’d never let Xhaka go, so he can surely help raise standards at Chelsea next season.