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Chelsea are not willing to spend £30m on Sunderland captain Granit Xhaka, according to journalist Fabrizio Romano.
Speaking on his YouTube channel, Romano said the Blues’ first offer worth £8m was rejected, and they are not prepared to pay over the odds:
“Sunderland say we don’t want to sell the player, especially because Chelsea’s opening bid [was] £8m… I told you Chelsea bid will not be as reported, €30m, £30m or whatever, forget about this.”
“Chelsea will offer way less than this and, at the moment, Chelsea are offering £8m, and this is not enough to convince Sunderland, so, at the moment, no agreement.”
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“They don’t want to sell, but obviously the player is going to also play a role in this story, and we have to understand how Chelsea and the clubs will be in conversations, so let’s see, let’s wait on this one.”
Chelsea had the same issue with Maignan
The London club have rarely tabled offers for players above the age of 25, but when they have, they’ve usually tried to lowball the other team.
Last summer, when the Blues pursued France No.1 Mike Maignan, the maximum they were prepared to pay AC Milan was €15m. There were other factors, such as the keeper having a year left on his contract, but it does provide context for their attitude towards buying older stars.
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Why does Alonso want Xhaka?
Before taking the job, the Spaniard emphasised that he wanted to bring in some experienced, senior players to supplement the current squad.
Xhaka fits that criteria, and he has also worked with Alonso before. The pair spent two seasons together at Bayer Leverkusen, winning the Bundesliga and the German Cup in their first year. The Swiss international also left for Sunderland shortly after Alonso moved to Real Madrid.