Granit Xhaka has completed his move to Arsenal, signing for an undisclosed fee.
The Borussia Monchengladbach midfielder becomes the first signing of the summer for Arsene Wenger’s side, who are expected to be among the biggest players during the transfer window.
Arsenal identified the Gladbach captain as their first-choice to fill the midfield void left by the departures of Mikel Arteta, Mathieu Flamini and Tomas Rosicky.
Standard Sport understands that the fee agreed between the two clubs is around £33.8m, a fee that would make him the third most expensive player in the club's history after Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez. Xhaka signed a five-year contract at the Emirates.
Arsenal have acted swiftly to secure the midfielder as they look to complete as much of their transfer business as possible before the start of the European Championships on June 10.
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On Saturday May 21 images seeming to show Xhaka posing in the new Arsenal kit leaked onto social media after the midfielder had travelled to London the previous day to complete his medical.
Xhaka has made no secret of his desire to one day appear in the Premier League, telling Swiss television station SRF in May: “The Premier League is not my goal, but a childhood dream.
“It is a dream that could be fulfilled.”
The 23-year-old has made over 100 Bundesliga appearances for Gladbach over four seasons since arriving from Swiss side Basel, where he was hailed as the most prodigiously gifted of Switzerland’s young generation of players.
Xhaka was made captain of Gladbach at the age of just 22 last September, taking the armband when Andre Schubert took over as head coach of Die Fohlen.
