Swiss journalist Marcello Pelizzari believes that Milan are currently in pole position to land Arsenal midfielder Granit Xhaka.
Xhaka seemingly faces as uncertain future with the Gunners after an altercation with fans during last month’s 2-2 draw against Crystal Palace.
Unai Emery confirmed that the Switzerland international would not be part of the squad to face Leicester away from home over the weekend as the midfielder chose to rule himself out of the game.
Links with a move to Milan have emerged as the Rossoneri look to add more experience and leadership to their struggling squad in January, with Swiss outlet RSI even claiming that Xhaka is house shopping in the city.
MilanNews.it spoke to Corriere del Ticino journalist Marcello Pelizzari to discuss the future of the midfielder and the chances of him joining Milan in the January transfer window, and he offered an interesting insight.
“Unless a dramatic turnaround occurs, Xhaka will leave 100% of Arsenal in January,” he said.
“There was an interview given a few days by the player to Blick, the biggest Swiss newspaper, in which the player says he was really badly hurt by the insults of the Gunners fans, who brought up his newborn baby and his wife. That motivated his strong reaction against Crystal Palace.
“Right now Xhaka on the table has various options. There has been talk of Newcastle, which would be a welcome solution, because he can remain in the Premier League. Rumour has it that Borussia Dortmund is on the table, where he would find Favre, who launched him during his time at Borussia Monchengladbach.
“However, we know that he loves Italy and Milan in particular. From what we have come to know, even from sources close to his entourage, Milan would be the company that is ahead in negotiations to take it away from London in January, also because Gazidis has known him since the Arsenal days. Even Inter could have done a survey for the player, but at the moment the Nerazzurri are colder than Milan on the player.
“Xhaka thinks that Milan is a city where he would live well. His concerns with Milan more than anything else come from a sporting point of view, because he knows that the club in the league is having a lot of difficulties and that they are not in the European spots.
“His fear is to take a step backwards from the point of view of his career, to date, and then he must consider that he wants to leave Arsenal, as well as for environmental reasons, because next June there are the European Championships.”
Xhaka joined Arsenal back in 2017 in a deal reportedly worth €50m from Monchengladbach (as per the Telegraph).
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