'You will know' - Granit Xhaka says Arsenal transfer announcement is imminent amid Bayer Leverkusen talks

• Arsenal in advanced talks with Leverkusen over Xhaka
• A deal not yet fully agreed
• Xhaka signed from Borussia Monchengladbach in 2016

WHAT HAPPENED? The Gunners go into their match of the Premier League season with little to play for aside from pride, with a second placed finish behind champions Manchester City already secured.

But the game could be Xhaka’s final appearance in an Arsenal shirt, with the north London club in talks with Bayer Leverkusen over the sale of the Switzerland international. A deal has yet to be finalised, but it’s looking likely Xhaka will bring an end to his seven-year Arsenal career and return to Germany.

And the 30-year-old is keen for everything to be sorted before the end of the week, so he has the opportunity to say a final goodbye at the Emirates on Sunday.

WHAT THEY SAID: "You will know latest next week, for sure," he told the Evening Standard after defeat at Forest on Saturday. When asked if he wanted an announcement before the Wolves game, the midfielder added: "Yes. I think [the fans] deserve that as well and I do myself as well. We have one more week of this Premier League season, the first thing is I want to enjoy [it] and for sure you guys will know next week what happens with my future.”

THE BIGGER PICTURE: Should Xhaka move on, it would complete a seven-year stay in North London that has been packed with highs and lows. Just three years ago he was stripped of the captaincy and looked certain to leave after his very public spat with the club’s fans when he was booed off the pitch against Southampton.

But he has turned things around and become a fans’ favourite under Mikel Arteta, something he is very proud of. “This is what I said when I speak about special," Xhaka said. “Where I have been three years ago and how I came back and my turnaround, maybe, it’s the first in the history of the Premier League. It makes me proud, makes me happy as well. But this is my story, this is my path. 

“I will be thankful for the fans because how they treat me after this, I didn’t expect that if I am honest. I am thankful for that and I want to give them something back [for] maybe my last game on Sunday.”

IN THREE PHOTOS:

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WHAT NEXT? Arsenal play their final game of the Premier League season against Wolves on Sunday at Emirates Stadium.