Sunderland have made several impressive additions to their squad after securing promotion to the top flight.
Granit Xhaka was one of the players to arrive at the Stadium of Light this summer after the Black Cats signed him from Bayer Leverkusen.
Régis Le Bris has appointed the midfielder as Sunderland’s new captain, and he made his debut in their 3-0 win over West Ham United last weekend.
The Switzerland international has given an interview to [Blick](https://www.blick.ch/sport/fussball/so-kam-es-zu-xhakas-leverkusen-abgang-ich-glaubte-da-treibt-jemand-schabernack-id21157586.html), telling the Swiss newspaper how the Premier League newcomers approached him.
Kyril Louis-Dreyfus, the club’s owner and chairman, had direct contact with the 32-year-old to start the transfer process.
The former Arsenal man now admits he initially thought someone was playing a prank on him, before realising things were getting serious.
_“At 11pm, a Swiss number lit up on my phone. I was on my way to bed, the children were already asleep: ‘Hello, this is Kyril. I’m the owner of Sunderland.’ I went along with the game because I thought someone was playing a prank on me,”_ he said.
_“My agent, José Noguera, was in America at the time, with the time difference. I gave Kyril my agent’s number. The conversation was clear, but brief.”_
_“10 minutes later, José contacted me via FaceTime, along with the sporting director and Kyril. Then I realised: Things are getting serious.”_
The player has now given an insight into what he felt after holding talks with Sunderland and why he was convinced to join them.
_“You have to do this, Granit! The club is coming from a situation that reminded me of my parents’ beginnings, from scratch,”_ Xhaka explained.
_“And I feel that this experience here will be of the greatest benefit to me for my future.”_
Sunderland returned to the Premier League after an eight-year absence. During that period, they went through a difficult phase and even dropped to the third division. Things started to improve after Kyril Louis-Dreyfus took over in 2021.