Mark Douglas is sure Steve Bruce would be interested in signing Granit Xhaka – claiming he’s been on the club’s radar since the days of Graham Carr.
That said, The Chronicle writer insists he’d be “hugely surprised” if it’s a deal we’ll be able to do financially – saying we struggled to afford the player during his time at Borussia Monchengladbach.
This comes after The Times’ Martin Hardy revealed last night that we’re set to offer him an escape route from Arsenal in January, suggesting we’d pay a chunk of his £130,000 wage packet to bring him in on loan.
Reacting to the news this morning, Douglas doesn’t seem convinced, however:
As he states above, it’s a classic deal that Bruce may well be interested in, but convincing Mike Ashley and co is another matter entirely.
Our wage ceiling is said to be £80,000, meaning we could only pay a portion of his alleged £130,000 wage at The Emirates, and you’d expect other top European clubs to pay that in full if he becomes available on loan.
Would you like to see us go all out to bring the Swiss international to St James’ Park in January?
