Hier seine Ausführungen zum Abgang:
Granit Xhaka explains his move to Sunderland: "It's possible [that some at Bayer reacted with irritation since the original plan was to settle down in Germany], I don't know. Anyone could have predicted that Xabi Alonso would leave the club one day. The various departures from Leverkusen make sense from the perspective of the club and the players. At some point, I received several offers. That's when I sensed that those in charge suddenly realized that it could get serious.
[Sunderland] did everything, absolutely everything, to bring me back to England. When a club makes you feel that way, it would be almost rude not to consider it. I was so touched by the people in charge. I couldn't say no.
Everything happened very quickly. The first contact was made one day before departure for the Bayer camp in Rio de Janeiro. At 11 pm, a Swiss number lit up on my phone. I was on my way to bed, the children were already asleep: "Hello, this is Kyril. I'm the owner of Sunderland." I played along because I thought someone was playing a prank on me. My advisor José Noguera was in America at the time, with the corresponding time difference. I gave Kyril my agent's number. The conversation was clear but brief. Ten minutes later, José called via Facetime, together with the sporting director and Kyril. Then I realized: this is serious.
I was honest with Kyril and told him that I couldn't really imagine an immediate return to the Premier League. But after the phone call, I felt: You have to do this, Granit! The club is coming from a situation that reminded me of my parents' beginnings – from scratch. And I feel that this experience here will benefit me most for my future. Why? I want to pursue a career as a coach at some point. That's why it's important to experience moments of suffering and solidarity. We're going to have to suffer a lot in the coming months. That's another side of football, but it's also part of it, and it will shape me.
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Granit Xhaka on reports that he left B04 because Erik ten Hag and him had issues: "It annoys me that Erik has been portrayed as the problem. He was never the problem, never! He only called me after three or four weeks because he didn't want to disturb me during the holidays. I had a very good conversation with him. He knew that I was going to look at an exciting offer. And maybe he sensed that he was going to lose me. But our conversation was always clear and correct. I would have played under him as captain."
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Granit Xhaka on AC Milan and others pulling out of the race for him due to Bayer's demands and whether things could've been resolved quicker: "[Leverkusen] opened the door for me [to leave] and it stayed open. But I want to make one thing clear at this point: I never said I wanted to leave at any cost – only if the overall package was right for everyone: for me and my family, for Leverkusen. If I had wanted to leave at all costs, I would never have flown to Brazil for training camp."
[@Blickch]