One of the dullest sagas to take place this summer was that of Granit Xhaka’s potential transfer from Arsenal to AS Roma.
It all started rather positively, with hope a deal could be struck, but the reluctance from either side to budge on their valuations of the player ultimately, and we mean a few months later, led to the deal breaking down.
Since then, Xhaka has signed a new deal with Arsenal, keeping him at the club until 2024, but that doesn’t mean is wasn’t a bit gutted he didn’t get his transfer to Italy, as explained by an agent and member of his entourage, who spoke to Calciomercato.it.
Mario Cenolli made it clear the two sides couldn’t reach an agreement as the Gunners didn’t want to accept a lower price, but the player really wanted the move.
He said: “He has great respect for Roma and José Mourinho, but we must understand that he still has two years on his contract with Arsenal and is very happy in London. The Gunners made their proposal, which pleased everyone and he happily chose to stay.
“There is a bit of regret for not having landed with Mourinho after being a neighbour of his. If he had gone to Roma, he would not have gone to a small team anyway, maybe we can go to the Giallorossi in four years”.
Cenolli also said that ‘other Italian clubs’ tried to sign the Switzerland international on top of Roma, but ‘nothing was concluded’, mostly because the vast majority of clubs in Serie A aren’t ‘having a great time from an economic point of view’.
That is a big problem, to be fair, especially when trying to buy players from England, who are always highly paid and overpriced.
