After his clash with the Arsenal fans in the home match against Crystal Palace, it seemed that Granit Xhaka’s time at the Emirates was coming to an end.
But it seems new boss Mikel Arteta has been able to convince the Swiss midfielder to stay in North London. The Spaniard spoke about how he managed to do this ahead of the return fixture against Palace.
According to Sky Sports, he said:
“The first message for him was that I wanted to understand how he was feeling, why he was feeling that way.
“I wanted him to hear from me my opinion on him, and that I was ready to support him and that I was ready to push the club to be supportive of him too, because I thought he could be a really, really good player for us and he could enjoy playing under me in this football club.
“I tried to convince him that way. He thought about it, he had a very positive response afterwards, and I think he changed his mind.”
This is good news for the team as Xhaka is one of the most experienced midfielders in the current setup. It is also a testament to the man-management skills of Arteta who is just starting out in his managerial career.
Arteta also mentioned some of the reasoning behind him talking to Xhaka about staying. He added:
“I was ready to push the club to be supportive of him too, because I thought he could be a really, really good player for us and he could enjoy playing under me in this football club.”
This shows how much the Swiss star is valued by the manager and Arteta will be happy that he was successful in what he set out to do. Xhaka’s influence could be clearly be seen in the wins against Leeds and Manchester United.
His passing range allowed the Gunners to gain control over the midfield. This was particularly evident in the second half of the FA Cup game against Leeds. Arsenal had a difficult first half where they were being dominated by their opponents. In the second half, they looked a different team altogether primarily because Xhaka was able to find his passing lanes.
The match against Palace gives Arsenal another chance to get into contention for the Champions League spots. A win will let their rivals know that they mean business and that the Gunners are well and truly back.
Having a player like Xhaka in the middle will go a long way in achieving that goal and Arteta will be hoping that the Swiss star gets to showcase his class once again.
