Arsenal and Bayer Leverkusen are in advanced talks over the €15million (£13m) sale of Granit Xhaka.
The midfielder, who has been at Arsenal since 2016, was due to have one year left on his contract this summer, although it contained the option for a further 12 months.
Xhaka has enjoyed his best season to date at Arsenal, scoring seven goals and missing just one Premier League game.
The Gunners, however, are planning to revamp their midfield and are targeting two new signings.
West Ham captain Declan Rice is their No1 target, but Arsenal are also fans of Brighton’s Moises Caicedo and Chelsea’s Mason Mount.
Xhaka is now set to leave Arsenal and Bayer Leverkusen are leading the race to bring him in.
The German club are in advanced talks with the Gunners and hope to wrap up a deal for him worth around £13m.
Xhaka has endured some turbulent times during his career at Arsenal, most notably in 2019 when he was stripped of the captaincy following an outburst at fans when substituted during a game against Crystal Palace at Emirates Stadium.
The midfielder was ready to leave during that January transfer window and had agreed terms with Hertha Berlin.
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta, who enjoys a good relationship with Xhaka, persuaded him to stay after showdown talks.
Roma were also interested in Xhaka last summer, however he stayed to become a key part of Arsenal’s title charge.
Xhaka will leave with Arsenal’s blessing and his agent was at Arsenal’s training ground last week and held talks with director of football operations, Richard Garlick, and sporting director, Edu.
