‘They need the money that’s why’: ‘Phenomenal’ Arsenal player is ‘pretty much gone now’, he’s leaving because of money
Arsenal star is now on the verge of leaving the Emirates this summer.
The Swiss international joined Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal all the way back in 2016. He has been an important player for every manager who’s been there since, but his time is about to come to an end now.
On GiveMeSport, journalist Alex Crook has shared the real reason why Arsenal are letting Xhaka go now instead of next year.
Arsenal weren’t willing to let Granit Xhaka leave for free in 2024
Granit Xhaka has always divided opinion at Arsenal, almost since the day he joined the club.
The Swiss international has had issues with red cards over the course of his career in the famous red and white, and who can forget what happened in the game against Crystal Palace at the Emirates four years ago
However, Xhaka’s comeback has been nothing short of inspirational, and he has been a fan favourite at Arsenal throughout this season.
When news came out that he could leave Arsenal this summer, people were ‘shocked‘ as nobody really expected him to be sold after how good he has been over the last 12 months.
Crook has now revealed that Xhaka was more than happy to run his contract down and leave for free next summer. Arsenal, however, weren’t having that and decided to sell him now to make some money off his sale.
The journalist said: “Xhaka has pretty much gone now, with a deal to Leverkusen virtually done. And that just came down to the fact that he was happy to let his contract run down, but Arsenal weren’t willing to do that.
“They need the money to improve the squad and obviously midfield is an area that they’ve targeted with the move for Moises Caicedo. They brought in Jorginho, but that was always a short-term solution to get them over the line in terms of the title, not so much long-term.”
Our View:
It is a shame that Granit Xhaka will be leaving Arsenal right after he helped the club return to the Champions League.
The Swiss international has had his best-ever campaign in a Gunners shirt. He has been absolutely ‘phenomenal‘ all season and is one of the biggest reasons why Mikel Arteta’s men were on top of the table for so long.
However, letting him run down his contract and leave for free doesn’t make much sense. He’s still worth a good amount of money, £13 million if reports are to be believed, and Arsenal could do with that cash as they look for other targets.
A lot has gone wrong for Xhaka throughout his time at Arsenal, but fans always remember him for the way he turned everything around. He deserves a lot of praise for that.
