Sunderland are closing on their seventh and arguably most ambitious transfer deal yet this summer

Granit Xhaka is now close to becoming Sunderland's seventh summer signing.

As first revealed by transfer insider Fabrizio Romano this morning, The Echo understands that a deal has now been agreed with Bundesliga club Bayer Leverkusen and that the 32-year-old has been given permission to travel to Wearside for a medical and to finalise the arrangement.

It's understood that Sunderland will be a paying an initial fee of €15 million to sign Xhaka, but that there are also around €5 million of potential add-ons included as part of the deal. Bayer Leverkusen were insistent that they would not let Xhaka go for a fee below their €20 million asking price, but were relatively flexible on the structure of the deal. With a framework now in place, the deal can proceed.

It's understood that the framework of an agreement between the player and the club is already in place, and that if all progresses as planned Xhaka will sign a three-year contract at the club. Bayer Leverkusen’s managing director for sport Simon Rolfes is said to have issued an ultimatum to the player over the weekend, insisting that he would have to stay at the club if an agreement was not reached this week. The deal is now moving forward at pace and could go through in the coming days. Though head coach Erik ten Hag was reluctant to lose Xhaka, Sunderland's work in convincing the player to make the switch has paid off now that they have lifted their opening bid significantly.

It marks a major statement of intent from Sunderland upon their return to the Premier League, having previously been reluctant to pay significant fees for players not in the early stages of their career. Xhaka has been competing at the very top level of the game in recent seasons and will bring significant quality and experience to the squad.

While the late collapse of the deal to sign Sassuolo forward Armand Laurienté is a reminder that no deal is done until everything has been finalised, the signs look immensely promising for the Black Cats in what would be arguably their most significant transfer in a generation.

What Régis Le Bris said about Sunderland’s transfer plans after Hearts loss

“All I can say right now is that we are trying our best to improve the team,” Le Bris said.

“We will have to see what happens. If you look at the Hearts game, then it looks as though we are far away from where we need to be. That is clear. But at the same time, it is always a work in progress. Maybe you get a confidence against a certain type of team or a certain style of play, but then later, if you don’t play with the right level of intensity, you can be surprised, and I think the game against Hearts was part of that process. So it was useful. Tough, but useful. Then, when it comes to where the squad is at, we will see. It is still unpredictable, so we always have to manage the players we have and be confident with them. But at the same time, we are not naïve and we know we have to reinforce this squad to be stronger.”

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