Sunderland officials remain in talks with their counterparts at Leverkusen over a deal for Xhaka, having had an initial bid for the Switzerland international rejected yesterday.
Despite counter-offers from Saudi Arabian side Neom FC and Turkish club Fenerbahce, Xhaka has expressed a desire to join Sunderland this summer.
The 32-year-old midfielder’s agent, Jose Noguera, yesterday confirmed Xhaka’s interest in a move to the Stadium of Light, claiming an ‘agreement in principle’ was already in place, and urged the Leverkusen hierarchy not to block a move.
The former Arsenal skipper is understood to have agreed the terms of a three-year deal at the Stadium of Light, with Sunderland officials attempting to strike a deal with Leverkusen.
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While there initial approach was unsuccessful, there have been suggestions within the German media that Leverkusen could be willing to release Xhaka if their asking price of around €15m is met.
Ten Hag, however, has other ideas, with the Leverkusen boss having already seen a number of his key performers leave the BayArena this summer.
Florian Wirtz, Jeremie Frimpong and Jonathan Tah have all moved on since Leverkusen finished second in the Bundesliga last season, and the former Manchester United boss does not want to see Xhaka join the exodus.
“His (Xhaka) agent can say whatever he wants, but this club has already let three important players go, and we won’t let any more go,” said ten Hag. “Granit is a leader, he still has three years left on his contract here.
“It’s clear – Granit is a key player, he signed here for five years and still has three years left on his contract. He’s too important to us to let him go.”
Further talks are planned for the next couple of days, with Sunderland also targeting a wide-forward in the wake of the collapse of a proposed deal for Armand Lauriente over the weekend.
Romaine Mundle’s hamstring injury, which will force the winger to miss the start of the Premier League season, has accentuated the Black Cats’ need for an additional reinforcement in the final third.
“It’s fair to say we will have a recruitment to make in this position,” confirmed head coach Regis Le Bris, who will lead his side back into pre-season action when they take on Hearts at Tynecastle on Saturday.
“Simon (Adingra) has a good background in the Premier League but if he’s alone in this position, we’ll struggle.
“Chemsdine (Talbi) is young and has many games, but is very young for the Premier League. So, we’ll need to reinforce this part of the squad. We’ll see, because it’s not an easy position.”