Chelsea were given a firm no in their quest to sign Granit Xhaka from Sunderland this summer, although their working relationship could be reignited before the transfer window is over.
New manager Xabi Alonso had identified Xhaka as the perfect option to bring experience and leadership to the Chelsea side.
However, Sunderland were against getting rid of their captain, and the Blues opted not to push on in an attempt to maintain their excellent relations with their fellow Premier League club.
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Sunderland keen on signing Chelsea’s Marc Guiu
This stems back from Chelsea loaning Marc Guiu to the Stadium of Light, before recalling him before the summer transfer window had closed.
Despite limited opportunities under Liam Rosenior in the cup competitions, appearances were few and far between for Guiu, who is on the list of players who could be sold this summer.
Ben Jacobs has stated that the Spaniard is wanted by a number of clubs on a permanent deal this summer, with Sunderland one of those interested.
He said on London is Blue: “I think it’s not impossible that Marc Guiu is sold permanently. Sunderland are still interested, having had to have him on loan and then send him back. But there’s other clubs as well
“Ipswich could be another one to watch. And I’d also heard that Fiorentina quite like the player too. So he will be quite easy for Chelsea to offload because they only signed him for five million.”
With no European football available for Chelsea next season, it is clear that a number of fringe players are going to have to move away if they want to feature regularly.
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It looks as if the penny has already dropped for Andrey Santos, who is set to secure a big-money move to Manchester United in the coming days.
The Brazilian has never been able to break into the starting side with Moises Caicedo and Enzo Fernandez in the squad, and will see far less opportunities under Alonso.
The same is unfortunately true for Guiu, with movement expected still in the transfer market for Chelsea to bring in competition for Joao Pedro.
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