Sunderland have agreed a fee with Bayer Leverkusen for Granit Xhaka.
Sky Sports News understands the fee is in the region of £17m, costing Sunderland an initial £13m with up to £4m in add-ons.
Sunderland agreed personal terms with the former Arsenal man last week and the 32-year-old will sign a three-year deal and give vital experience to the Mackems’ midfield.
The Premier League newcomers upped their total offer by £7m to get the deal done and Xhaka has been given permission to travel to the UK to undergo a medical.
Xhaka made 33 Bundesliga appearances last season, scoring twice and setting up seven goals. Before joining Leverkusen he played 297 times for Arsenal, scoring 23 times and making 26 assists.
Speaking last week, Leverkusen boss Erik ten Hag suggested a Xhaka departure was not possible following Florian Wirtz and Jeremie Frimpong’s moves to Liverpool and Jonathan Tah’s transfer to Bayern Munich.
“This club has already sold three important players,” the former Man Utd boss said.
“We won’t let go of any more players; that’s not possible. That would neglect the structure and culture of the squad.
“Clearly, Granit is a leader. He signed for five years and has three years left on his contract. He’s too important for us to let go.”
Simon Rolfes, Leverkusen’s sporting managing director, added: “I’ve always said that Granit is an important leader. The coach and I have a very similar perspective.”
Sunderland have already spent £107m so far this summer on six new signings.
