{"id":2889,"date":"2025-07-30T10:17:59","date_gmt":"2025-07-30T10:17:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2025\/07\/30\/granite-zacca-will-be-relocating-from-bayer-leberkusen-to-sunderland-as-a-former-arenaar-star-excited-and-energetic\/"},"modified":"2025-07-30T10:17:59","modified_gmt":"2025-07-30T10:17:59","slug":"granite-zacca-will-be-relocating-from-bayer-leberkusen-to-sunderland-as-a-former-arenaar-star-excited-and-energetic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2025\/07\/30\/granite-zacca-will-be-relocating-from-bayer-leberkusen-to-sunderland-as-a-former-arenaar-star-excited-and-energetic\/","title":{"rendered":"Granite Zacca will be relocating from Bayer Leberkusen to Sunderland as a former Arenaar star &#8220;excited and energetic&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div data-testid=\"atom-body\">\n<div class=\"mt-3 first:mt-0 lg:mt-4\">\n<p>Sunderland has completed the signing of Granit Xhaka from Bayer Leberkusen on a three-year contract.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"mt-3 first:mt-0 lg:mt-4\">\n<div data-testid=\"atom-body-paragraph\" class=\"text-onLight-02 break-words body-2 md:body-1\">The deal represents an intent statement from Sunderland, who is in the Premier League for the first time since 2017, at a private fee.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"mt-3 first:mt-0 lg:mt-4\">\n<div data-testid=\"atom-body-paragraph\" class=\"text-onLight-02 break-words body-2 md:body-1\">Xhaka told the club&#8217;s website: <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"mt-3 first:mt-0 lg:mt-4\">\n<p>\u201cWe are back where this club is needed and would like to stay here to write our own history. I feel ready to help the team with my experience, but there is quality as well.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"mt-3 first:mt-0 lg:mt-4\">\n<p>&#8220;We need to find ourselves on the pitch, but I don&#8217;t think this will be a big problem. The wait has been a long way, but I&#8217;m here and looking forward to it.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"mt-3 first:mt-0 lg:mt-4\">\n<p>Sports Director Kristjaan Speakman added: &#8220;We are delighted to welcome Granite and his family to Sunderland. His arrival is proud of our ambitions and our arrival to build a team that our supporters are proud of in the Premier League.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"mt-3 first:mt-0 lg:mt-4\">\n<p>&#8220;He has little to showcase his achievements and quality. He is the most caliber player on and off the field and feels he is perfectly matched with the profile he needs on our team. We look forward to helping him settle down to the wearside.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"mt-3 first:mt-0 lg:mt-4\">\n<p>The 32-year-old surpassed the ranks at FC Basel, winning back-to-back Swiss titles before moving to Borussia Monchen Radbach in the summer of 2012.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"mt-3 first:mt-0 lg:mt-4\">\n<p>Xhaka then moved to Arsenal in July 2016, spending seven years with the Emirates, winning two FA Cups during her time in North London.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"mt-3 first:mt-0 lg:mt-4\">\n<p>He was named Unai Emery&#8217;s Gunners Captain in September 2019, replacing Laurent Koscielny, who skipped the team in six of the first eight games of that season.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"mt-3 first:mt-0 lg:mt-4\">\n<p>Xhaka joined Bayer Leverkusen, and he continued his return to the Bundesliga in July 2023.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"mt-3 first:mt-0 lg:mt-4\">\n<p>It proved to be a record first season at Bayarena as Xabi Alonso&#8217;s side unbeaten throughout the domestic season, achieving Bundesliga and German Cup Double.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"mt-3 first:mt-0 lg:mt-4\">\n<p>They also reached the UEFA Europa League Final and suffered the only defeat of the campaign against ultimate winner Atalanta. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"mt-3 first:mt-0 lg:mt-4\">\n<p>Xhaka also won 137 caps in Switzerland, representing his country at the 2014, 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cups.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"mt-3 first:mt-0 lg:mt-4\">\n<div data-testid=\"atom-body-paragraph\" class=\"text-onLight-02 break-words body-2 md:body-1\">TNT Sports and Discovery+ including Premier League, Men&#8217;s and Women&#8217;s FA Cup, UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, UEFA Conference League<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tntsports.co.uk\/football\/premier-league\/2025-2026\/sunderland-granit-xhaka-premier-league-return-bayer-leverkusen-arsenal_sto23206376\/story.shtml\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sunderland has completed the signing of Granit Xhaka from Bayer Leberkusen on a three-year contract. The deal represents an intent statement from Sunderland, who is in the Premier League for the first time since 2017, at a private fee. Xhaka told the club&#8217;s website: \u201cWe are back where this club is needed and would like<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2890,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-2889","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-english-premier-league"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Granite Zacca will be relocating from Bayer Leberkusen to Sunderland as a former Arenaar star &quot;excited and energetic&quot; - EPL VIP \u2013 Latest English Premier League News &amp; Updates<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2025\/07\/30\/granite-zacca-will-be-relocating-from-bayer-leberkusen-to-sunderland-as-a-former-arenaar-star-excited-and-energetic\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Granite Zacca will be relocating from Bayer Leberkusen to Sunderland as a former Arenaar star &quot;excited and energetic&quot; - EPL VIP \u2013 Latest English Premier League News &amp; Updates\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Sunderland has completed the signing of Granit Xhaka from Bayer Leberkusen on a three-year contract. 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