Granit Xhaka looks set to stay at the Emirate this summer after a potential move to Spanish giants Atletico Madrid fell through.
Atletico were said to be seriously considering a move for the Swiss star, but are now ready to bring in Marcos Llorente from city rivals Real Madrid instead.
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The LaLiga side have been in the hunt for a new central midfielder to replace Rodri, who is on the brink of joining Manchester City in a £62million deal.
Llorente’s representative met with Atletico on Wednesday and a deal was thrashed out to sign the 24-year-old for around £35m.
Xhaka’s Gunners future has been in doubt since he was linked with a move to Inter Milan earlier this summer, although a bid never materialised from the Serie A side.
The Daily Star report goes on to add that the 26-year-old midfielder is happy at Arsenal, where he still has four years left to run on his contract.
He is also deemed to be a huge part of Unai Emery’s plans for next season, and with Petr Cech moving back to Chelsea in a backroom role and Laurent Koscielny also tipped to depart– Xhaka is a major candidate to take up the club captaincy.
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The club are, however, prepared to listen to offers Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Mesut Ozil and Shkodran Mustafi and look set to bank around £4m from the sale of goalkeeper David Ospina to Napoli.
This article was most recently revised and updated 4 years ago
