Takeover would give Newcastle United strong chance of signing January target Granit Xhaka

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When Granit Xhaka’s time at Arsenal looked to be coming to an end in January, plenty of teams were seemingly circling the Swiss international. 

One of those teams, according to The Telegraph, was Newcastle United. The report suggested that the Magpies saw Xhaka as a perfect reinforcement in their midfield engine room and were ready to commit to a loan deal for the player. 

The idea was that Xhaka, who at the time was seemingly banished from the Arsenal first-team after being stripped of his captaincy, would want playing time ahead of Euro 2020.

Fabian Schar, his international team-mate, was seemingly helping to try and lure him to Tyneside – according to Sky Sports. 

But it always seemed somewhat beyond Newcastle’s means at the time. In the end, Xhaka ended up back in the Arsenal fold and the Toon Army greeted Nabil Bentaleb from Schalke that January instead. 

But now, with Newcastle on the brink of a massive £300 million Saudi-backed takeover, the time might be right for them to swoop again. 

The Sky Sports report at the time suggested Newcastle would struggle to find the money for Xhaka’s apparent (Daily Mail) £110,000-a-week wages

That will not be a significant problem under their new ownership. Of course, Arsenal are now less willing to let Xhaka go under new manager Mikel Arteta. But with the Gunners likely to need sales to strengthen their own squad, it is hard to see them rejecting a deal should Newcastle match the £35 million they reportedly (Mail) spent on Switzerland’s captain. 

This takeover could surely see Newcastle reignite their interest in Xhaka with a high percentage of it being a successful swoop.