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EPL: Top Arsenal Midfielder Set To Leave Club

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EPL: Top Arsenal Midfielder Set To Leave Club
Arsenal Players
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There is no hope of a contract extension between Arsenal and Swiss professional footballer, Granit Xhaka, as the club is reportedly looking at offloading some players during the summer transfer window.

It could be recalled that Xhaka joined Arsenal in 2016 from Borussia Monchengladbach for a fee of around £30–35 million.

His current contract with Arsenal will expire in 2024. Reports, however, are that the English Premier League (EPL) top club would rather sell the 30-year-old player during the summer transfer window than allow his contract to expire in less than a year.

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According to Sky Germany, Xabi Alonso’s Bayer Leverkusen are keenly interested in the midfielder, who has scored seven goals in all competitions for Arsenal this season.

Xhaka was a member of Switzerland’s squad that participated in the 2022 World Cup, Naija News reports.

Ivan Toney Banned From Football For Eight-Month For Betting Violations

Meanwhile, the English Football Association has banned Brentford forward Ivan Toney for eight months for betting violations.

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Aside from the lengthy ban, the in-form England international has received a £50,000 fine and a warning regarding his future behaviour after he was found guilty of violating 232 of the FA’s betting regulations.

Ivan Toney was a player for Scunthorpe United, Wigan Athletic, Peterborough United, and Brentford between February 25, 2017, and January 23, 2021, when he committed the offences for which he was found guilty.

Toney, 27, is permitted to resume training with Brentford four months before the end of the suspension, which began today, May 17, and ends on September 17, 2023.

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He will, however, resume on-pitch action as a professional on January 17, 2024, which is the mid-2023-2024 season.

A statement from the English FA read, “His [Toney’s] fines were subsequently imposed by an independent Regulatory Commission following a personal hearing.

“The independent Regulatory Commission’s written reasons for these sanctions will be published in due course, and the FA will wait to review them before commenting further.”

With 20 goals in 33 Premier League appearances, Ivan Toney has helped Brentford to a ninth-place finish in the Premier League rankings this season.

He will miss Brentford’s trip to Tottenham on Saturday and the home game against league-leaders Manchester City on May 28.

After the English FA announced Ivan Toney’s ban, Brentford released a statement to announce that they are considering their “next steps” and that they have taken note of the FA’s decision.