Mourinho likes a granite midfield

Arsenal management are trying to connect the dots and they have been trying for years now. Squad is always respectable but at the same time it always lacks that 'wow' factor.

The Gunners ended the campaign with being out of Europe for the first time in 25 years and changes are inevitable. One of the players who will most probably change his environment is Swiss Granit Xhaka.

Football.london reports that Roma are confident of signing Xhaka after the Swiss signalled that he is willing to leave Arsenal during the upcoming transfer window.

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In January 2020, Xhaka was persuaded to stay at Arsenal by manager Mikel Arteta - Xhaka was then on the brink of moving to Hertha Berlin as the 28-year-old agreed terms with the Bundesliga side.

New Roma boss Jose Mourinho has huge respect for the former Borussia Monchengladbach captain. Xhaka said he is happy in London and recently became a father for the second time, but is attracted by the prospect of playing under the Portuguese at Olimpico.

Xhaka has made over 200 appearances for the Gunners since arriving from Gladbach in 2016. Even with all the inconsistent performances by the team as a whole, he established himself as a regular under former managers Arsene Wenger and Unai Emery, as well as current boss Arteta.

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The 'Special One' attempted to sign the Basel-born star on a number of occasions - Mourinho also publicly praised Xhaka two years ago and is a keen admirer of the experienced midfielder.

"Xhaka is the main man in the entire Arsenal midfield, you can't see it unless I lend you one of my eyes," he said. "Without him, Arsenal is lost. He is a leader."

Xhaka did have a couple of mishaps while wearing Arsenal shirt as he constantly had a push-me-pull-you relationship with the supporters - mostly a result of few mistakes that cost the team valuable points in the chase for an European spot in the Premier League as well minor tantrums towards the fans who were not happy with his performances.

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Starting point for negotiations will begin at 3 billion KSH which is what the Gunners have told Roma and that is with two years remaining on Xhaka's current contract.

Sides are keen to wrap up any deal before the footballer heads off to the Euro 2020 as part of Switzerland national squad with the tournament starting in about two weeks.