Sunderland sign midfielder Xhaka from Leverkusen

Sunderland continues to prepare for its return to the Premier League with the signing of Switzerland international midfielder Granit Xhaka from Bayer Leverkusen.

Chelsea's Jorginho (R) is challenged by Arsenal's Granit Xhaka during the 23th round English Premier League match between Arsenal and Chelsea at the Emirates Stadium in London, Britain on Jan. 19, 2019. Arsenal won 2-0. (Xinhua/Matthew Impey)

The 32-year-old won the Bundesliga and German Cup double with Leverkusen in 2024 and previously spent seven years at Arsenal. Xhaka joins for a fee thought to be around 13 million pounds and has agreed a three-year deal at the Stadium of Light.

The midfielder will bring a wealth of experience to Sunderland as the club looks to avoid instant relegation back to the Championship.

"I'm very proud to be here. When I spoke to the club, I was excited, and I felt the energy, and the mentality all the people and players have."

"It's 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," Xhaka was quoted as saying on the Sunderland website.

"I feel I'm 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," he concluded.

This summer has seen Sunderland bring in Enzo Le Fee, Habib Diarra, Noah Sadiki, Reinildo Mandava, Chemsdine Talbi and Simon Adingra, spending over 110 million pounds.

Sunderland finished fourth in the Championship in the 2024-25 season and grabbed the third and last ticket to promote to the Premier League through two rounds of playoffs.