‘Amad saga repeats itself’ as Ten Hag responds to Xhaka agreement at Sunderland
Erik ten Hag has had his say on the potential transfer of Granit Xhaka to Sunderland.
Sunderland were said to have reached an agreement with Xhaka ahead of a potential move to the Stadium of Light.
However, negotiations are still ongoing with Bayer Leverkusen over the fee that would be required to sanction his exit.
Xhaka has already made his desire to make the move to Wearside, though Ten Hag has different plans for the Swiss international, in a very familiar situation for the Black Cats.
Ten Hag blocked Amad transfer to Sunderland
Amad was a fan favourite throughout his time at Sunderland, and the Wearsiders made an attempt to bring him back again the following season.
However, those attempts failed miserably, with Ten Hag blocking the exit, despite then going on to waste the ability of the Ivorian by restricting him to sub appearances at best.
Now, the failed Manchester United manager is at Leverkusen, where he has already overseen a 5-1 defeat against Flamengo’s Under-20 side, and looks set to try and repeat that with Xhaka.
| Granit Xhaka’s 2024/25 Bundesliga statistics | Total |
| Appearances | 33 |
| Goals | 2 |
| Assists | 7 |
| Touches | 94.5 |
| Accurate passes | 75.8 (91%) |
| Big chances created | 7 |
As relayed by Fabrizio Romano via X (22 July), Ten Hag said: “The agent of Xhaka can say whatever he wants, but this club has already let three important players go, and we won’t let any more go”.
“Granit is a leader; he still has three years left on his contract here.”
Of course, should Xhaka hand in an official transfer request, that stance may change, given the fact that he’s highly unlikely to want to keep an unhappy player in his squad, which has already been torn apart this summer.
Florian Wirtz is just one of several key players to have moved on in the transfer window, and Xhaka’s importance will only be amplified by that.
Sunderland must push for Xhaka transfer
Xhaka wants the move, and Sunderland want the transfer.
However, it is never as easy as that in the modern world, with a lot of details to sort out in between.
With that said, if Sunderland are serious about this deal, which they should be given his pedigree, they need to go all out and do what it takes to secure his arrival.
History cannot be allowed to repeat itself.
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