Former Arsenal captain to join Chelsea

Chelsea are spending big once again. They splashed out 50 million euros last January for highly rated youngster Geovany Quenda, will pay even more for Marco Palestra this June, but perhaps the most high-profile addition for new manager Xabi Alonso will cost only a fraction of those fees. Contrary to the club's recent strategy of targeting young, high-upside talents, the Basque coach has convinced the board that his squad also needs experience, prompting Chelsea to launch a move for Granit Xhaka. According to well-connected Sky Germany journalist Florian Plettenberg, everything has already been agreed with the 33-year-old Switzerland international, who previously enjoyed tremendous success under Alonso at Bayer Leverkusen, where they won the Bundesliga title.

It is now up to the two clubs to reach an agreement. Chelsea must negotiate with Sunderland, but considering Xhaka turns 34 in October, the transfer fee is not expected to be excessive. The expectation is that it will be in the region of the 15 million Sunderland paid Leverkusen to sign Xhaka last year—a figure that poses no issue for Chelsea. Even before Alonso made contact, Xhaka had been considering a return to London, where he spent seven years. West Ham, now playing in the Championship, approached him, but he ultimately declined. Once Alonso called, however, there was no hesitation.

Chelsea set to hijack Palestra from Inter

As a reminder, Chelsea have already beaten Inter to the signing of Atalanta right wing-back Marco Palestra, with the deal set to cost 60 million plus a further three million in bonuses. The arrival of the 21-year-old Italian is now only awaiting final formalities. On the other hand, Chelsea have already lost Marc Cucurella, who completed a 55 million euros move to Real Madrid.