Arsenal in ‘arm wrestling match’ with club over exit – Player ‘strongly pushing’ for Emirates exit, belief deal will happen ‘in the end’

Another day, another Granit Xhaka to AS Roma update, as the Switzerland international strives to leave Arsenal this summer.

It’s been reported a number of times already, and Il Tempo reiterate it on Thursday: the midfielder is ‘strongly pushing’ for an exit and the belief is that ‘in the end’, it’ll happen.

For now, however, the Gunners are stuck in an ‘arm wrestling match’ with Roma regarding the fee, as the Serie A side refuse to budge from their €15m valuation, while the London club want more than that.

This is echoed by Corriere della Sera, who state Xhaka is at the ‘top of the list’ for Roma, but there is ‘still some distance’ with Arsenal.

The asking price is around €20m at the Emirates, but that is a figure the Italians have ‘no intention of spending’.

Thus, they have started looking around for alternatives, just in case, which is where Aston Villa’s Douglas Luiz would come in.

However, Xhaka is the one they want, and he’s the one they’ll try to get first, just not at any price.