One can be in denial when facing a cruel reality. Three weeks ago, Erik ten Hag, in the midst of preseason preparations with his new team, Bayer Leverkusen , was asked about the potential departure of midfielder Granit Xhaka , who had been linked with a return to the Premier League .

"It's clear: Granit is a key player. He signed here for five years and still has three years left on his contract," the former Manchester United manager replied. "He's too important to us to let him go."

By this point in the summer, Leverkusen had already lost genius tactician Xabi Alonso to Real Madrid , budding superstar Florian Wirtz and electric wing back Jeremie Frimpong to Liverpool , and Germany center back Jonathan Tah to Bayern Munich . All of these departures were more or less

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