Granit Xhaka is set to be the next high-profile Arsenal exit this summer.
Defender David Luiz has already announced that he will be leaving the club upon the expiry of his contract at the end of the month, and he will be followed by Martin Odegaard, Mat Ryan and Dani Ceballos at the conclusion of their respective loan deals.
But whilst Arsenal won't receive a fee for any of the aforementioned quartet of deals, an announcement on their fifth is set to come with a much-needed cash injection.
As previously reported by football.london, Xhaka is willing to leave Arsenal this summer.
Former club Borussia Monchengladbach had been interested in re-signing the 28-year-old, but Serie A outfit AS Roma have always been leading the race to complete a deal to make Xhaka the first signing under new manager Jose Mourinho.
And now football.london understands that the midfielder is edging closer to joining Roma.
Any deal taking Xhaka to the Stadio Olimpico is likely to cost in the region of £20m.
It's no secret that the midfielder was close to leaving the club during the 2020 January transfer window, but was convinced to stay by current manager Mikel Arteta.
"I was able to do something at Arsenal that I had missed in the national team at the time: explain myself,” Xhaka told Neue Zurcher Zeitung, as per the Daily Cannon. "I didn’t go to training for two days, worrying about what all had happened.
"With my heart I had already left the club. The fact that I am still there today is thanks to coach Mikel Arteta.
"First, he wanted an explanation from me of what I felt, why I had acted like that. That’s exactly what I couldn’t do in the national team. I could tell him my motives, let out what was on my mind."
However, it would appear that Xhaka's five-year stay in north London is coming to an end.
As a result, a £20m boost from selling Xhaka to Roma just might help fund a move for Odegaard after Arsenal missed out on a deal for Norwich City attacking midfielder Emiliano Buendia.
The Gunners are looking to raise in excess of £60m with player sales this summer, and need to sell before they can buy, with this potentially being the first step towards Arteta's squad overhaul.
