‘Jermain Defoe and Lorik Cana convinced me to join Sunderland. It’s the greatest challenge of my career’ Granit Xhaka on why he returned to the Premier League

Granit Xhaka’s return to the Premier League last summer caught plenty of people by surprise - not least himself.

The 33-year-old, who spent seven seasons in the heart of the Arsenal midfield between 2016 and 2023, joined newly-promoted Sunderland in a £13million deal from Bayer Leverkusen in July, penning a three-year deal.

Xhaka was quickly named Black Cats captain by manager Regis Le Bris and has been a vital component of the club’s expectation-busting start to life back in the Premier League.

Xhaka on his Premier League return

“I didn’t expect to be back here in the Premier League,” he admits to FourFourTwo. “But I was done with my decision very quickly.”

“You’re never sure it’s going to be a success, it doesn’t matter where you go,” he adds, explaining his thought process when he opted to move to the North East. “It’s just about the feeling of the first conversations with the club and the coach. It was very positive.”

It was not a move that the 143-cap Swiss international made lightly, speaking to not just owner and chairman Kyril Louis-Dreyfus, but also Lorik Cana, who represented the Black Cats between 2009 and 2010, plus another former Sunderland player in Jermain Defoe, an acquaintance from their time on a coaching course.

“I spoke to Kyril, I spoke to Jermain Defoe and I spoke to Lorik Cana, who has a similar background to me and had a great spell here at Sunderland,” Xhaka says, referencing Cana’s similar Kosovari origins and youth in Switzerland.

“Kyril was very open from the start. Then when you start to see yourself coming to this football club, you ask ex-players, and Jermain and Lorik spoke very highly of the club and fans.”

Xhaka also admits that he believed he would finish his career in Germany, “When I left Arsenal for Leverkusen, I signed a five-year contract – it was long-term for a 30-year-old because I thought I wanted to finish in Germany, then see what happened afterwards.

“But after speaking to Sunderland, I found myself sitting there with my family, wondering, ‘What do we do?’ It’s not about myself at that stage – it’s about my wife, my kids, brother and parents. It’s important that we make the right decision as a unit, together.

“It was an amazing two seasons at Leverkusen, but I was sure. I wanted the next challenge – and that has come with Sunderland in the Premier League. It’s the greatest challenge of my career both on and off the pitch, and I’m very happy I decided to come here.

“My eldest already speaks English. That’s a massive help – you need to be able to speak the language to live in this country, or else it’s very difficult.

“London and up here, though, are very different. London is huge – a lot of traffic, it’s very busy. The North East feels warmer, let’s put it that way, but both areas have the good and the bad.”