Régis Le Bris has declared Chelsea’s pursuit of Granit Xhaka “closed” and insisted there is no prospect of Sunderland selling their influential captain this summer.
Xhaka played a major role in Sunderland qualifying for the Europa League on their return to the Premier League last season, prompting Chelsea to make an £8m bid for the 33-year-old this month. Xabi Alonso, the new Chelsea manager, is keen to be reunited with his former midfielder at Bayer Leverkusen.
Sunderland, however, immediately rejected Chelsea’s bid and their head coach has emphatically denied that a deal could be revisited before the end of the transfer window.
“No, this topic is closed,” said Le Bris after Sunderland’s 4-2 pre-season friendly defeat by Liverpool in Nashville on Saturday. “He has been really clear about his future. He loves Sunderland, he wants to stay in Sunderland. He wants to make the future of Sunderland. He is a good captain. Great leader.”
Despite the added demands of European football next season Sunderland have been quiet in the transfer market, signing only the experienced Belgium defender Thomas Meunier on a free from Lille so far. Le Bris anticipates further additions but admits this summer will be nothing like the rebuilding work before Sunderland’s return to the top flight 12 months ago.
The Sunderland head coach added: “It’s going to be quiet. Under the radar, right? I won’t give you information. Because I think we are working hard behind the scenes, and it’s really important to be quiet because otherwise it’s a mess. And we are looking at probably a different transfer window if you compare with last season. We had to sign 14 new players. It won’t be the case this year. We’ll see what will happen.”
