Rumour Mill: Liverpool to challenge Arsenal for Granit Xhaka signing

Reports from Germany suggest that both Liverpool and Arsenal are set to move for Borussia Monchengladbach midfielder Granit Xhaka.

The 23-year-old is said to be valued at around £20 million, and could make the move to the Premier League in the near future.

That is according to German publication Bild, who claim that, despite signing a new long-term contract in February, Xhaka is on the radar of both Jurgen Klopp and Arsene Wenger as the January transfer window approaches.

Xhaka himself recently admitted that “things can happen quickly in football,” with regards to his future.

But the Switzerland international continued to explain that he would only leave the Bundesliga side for a “top, top club,” that would be able to offer him significant game time.

Klopp’s Reds fit the bill, with the former Borussia Dortmund manager intent on steering Liverpool back to the top end of the Premier League.

Xhaka would be an excellent acquisition for Klopp, with his Liverpool squad lacking in quality in their defensive-midfield ranks.

Lucas Leiva has performed ably so far this season, but the Brazilian’s limitations are clear—and if Liverpool are to progress another option must be added.

Xhaka has battled back from a slow start to life at Monchengladbach to build on the form that made him one of European’s hottest prospects while at Basel, and is now one of the Bundesliga’s most effective midfielders.

Physically adept, tactically intelligent and technically gifted, Xhaka would provide Liverpool with a more dynamic option at the base of midfield.

Most importantly, he possesses the winning mentality that Klopp needs at Anfield.

Shortly after arriving at Monchengladbach in 2012, he expressed his shock at the low morale and expectation at Borussia-Park:

“In my time at Basel, I picked up three titles and it was nothing but positive for two years running, but in Monchengladbach it was something new to me.

“The way I think just is not the same as the way they think in Gladbach.

“I was told by journalists that I should not be so outspoken. I told them ‘sorry, that is the way I am, I am not here to fight against relegation’.

|It was a huge transition for me, I work in a different way. I think about how I can win a game and not about how I cannot lose it.”

Though £20 million would represent a costly outlay for the Swiss midfielder, Xhaka is an experienced top-level talent who, at only 23, is capable of making the step up to match his ambitions.