Former Manchester United manager Eric Ten Hag is currently in charge of Bayer Leberkusen and the club says it will not sell Granite Zaka to Sunderland this summer.
Erik Ten Hag insisted that Granit Xhaka will not leave Bayer Leverkusen this summer. Xhaka spent seven seasons at Arsenal before joining Leverkusen in 2023.
The 32-year-old is a key player under Xabi Alonso, helping Leverkusen win the Bundesliga title for the first time last year, but 10 Hag is in charge after Alonso left the successor to Real Madrid’s Carlo Ancelotti.
However, Xhaka has moved this summer, and his agent Jose Noguerra Rodriguez said that the personal terminology had been agreed with Sunderland. “We have reached an agreement with Sunderland as a rule,” he told Sky Sports Germany.
“Granite wants to return to the Premier League. Sunderland excites him – he wants to take on this challenge. We respect Reverkusen’s desire to leave and the club hopes to find an agreement soon.”
However, Ten Hag does not want players to leave and come back when asked about Rodriguez’s comments. “His agents can say anything he wants, but the club has already put three important players (Florian Wirtz, Jeremie Frimpong and Jonathan Tah) on the way.
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“Granite is the leader and he still has three years left here. That’s clear. Granite is a key player, he has signed here for five years and still has three years of contract. He’s too important to us.”
Simon Rolfes, managing director at Leverkusen, added:
“Granite still has a three-year contract. As a rule, there is only change if all three aspects agree to it. Topics like this always cause discussion and conversation. That’s why it doesn’t shock me.”
Sunderland has already spent more than £100 million this summer, earning promotion to the Premier League by beating Sheffield United 2-1 in the Championship playoff final at Wembley.
Enzo Le Fee was permanently from Roma and spent a loan on Stadium of Light last season, but also signed Habib Diarra, Noah Sadiki, Reinildo Mandava, Chemsdine Talbi and Simon Adingra.
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