Charles Watts: ‘Really interesting’ player could replace Granit Xhaka at Arsenal

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Arsenal are likely to lose Granit Xhaka at the end of the season.

The Guardian reported on Tuesday that Bayer Leverkusen are closing in on a £13million move for the Gunners ace.

Charles Watts, Goal.com’s Arsenal correspondent, has spoken about Xhaka’s seemingly imminent end-of-season exit.

While he admits it’s a surprise, Watts also feels Arsenal could look for a big upgrade on the Switzerland star.

The journalist also looked at the Gunners’ apparent interest in Declan Rice, and put two and two together.

Watts reckons the West Ham ace would be an “absolute” upgrade on Xhaka, rather than taking Thomas Partey’s role.

“I look at that number eight role and Declan rice is a really interesting one,” Watts said on his YouTube channel.

“If they can get him… I think a lot of people are looking at Declan Rice and thinking ‘oh, he’s going to play in the Thomas Partey role’.

“I haven’t seen loads of Declan Rice I don’t watch West Ham week-in week-out. But I know people who do.

“When I speak to them about Declan Rice, they see him in that Granite Xhaka role, more of a box-to-box.

“They don’t see him as that complete out-and-out holding midfielder.

“They think he’s got absolutely got what it takes to do the box-to-box thing.

“He can add more goals to his game… he’s a lot faster than a lot of people think, he reads the game absolutely brilliantly just like Granit Xhaka does.

“He’s younger obviously, a lot younger than Granit Xhaka, and I think you look at that and it’s just an absolute – it is an upgrade.

“I’ve said it before. I think if Arsenal signed Declan Rice, it’s the biggest signing they’ve made since Sol Campbell.”

Our view

Watts’ comments make sense, and it would also explain why the Gunners seem happy to let Xhaka leave this summer.

After all, Xhaka is a key player for Arsenal, but if they were lining Rice up to replace him, it would make sense.

In addition, recouping some money for the Swiss ace and getting him off the wage bill would see some of that go towards Rice.

Moises Caicedo could potentially be cover for Partey. Footballtransfers has deemed both Rice and Caicedo similar to the Ghana ace.

This would cost Arsenal a lot of money though. So if the Gunners just go for Rice, he could very well replace Xhaka and also cover for Partey.

We’ll see what happens in the coming months. One thing’s for sure though – it’s bracing up to be an exciting transfer window on the Arsenal front.