Former Arsenal captain Granit Xhaka has completed his return to the Premier League to join the newly promoted side Sunderland ahead of the 2025/26 football season.
The Black Cats confirmed the signing of the Swiss international on their website on Wednesday, July 30, 2025. This is the first time that Granit Xhaka will return to the Premier League after he left Arsenal in 2023 for Germany to join Bayer Leverkusen.
Sunderland agreed personal terms with the former Arsenal man last week and the 32-year-old has signed a three-year deal which will be a good addition to them in their quest to play in the Premier League beyond this season. According to reports, the fee is in the region of £17.3m, costing Sunderland an initial £13m with up to £4.3m in add-ons.
Xhaka expressed his delight and excitement upon joining Sunderland.
He said,
“I am very proud to be here, when I spoke to the club, I was excited and I felt the energy, and the mentality that all the people and players have.
It is exactly what I wanted, and I have a very good feeling. We are back to where this club needs to be, and we want to stay here to write our own history.”
He continued,
“I am ready to help the team with my experience but with quality as well. We need to find ourselves on the pitch, but I don’t think this will be a big problem. It’s been a long time to wait, but I’m here now and I’m looking forward to it.”
Xhaka made 33 Bundesliga appearances last season, scoring twice and setting up seven goals. Before joining Leverkusen he played 297 times for Arsenal, scoring 23 times and making 26 assists.
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