Granit Xhaka says he’s aggressive and a leader, two qualities that are sure to earn him many friends at the Emirates when he makes his Arsenal debut next season.
The Swiss international, who amassed six red cards in three seasons for Borussia Moenchengladbach, also believes he’ll take to the Premier League like an angry fish to water knowing refs in England are less trigger happy than their German counterparts.
Reflecting on a dream £35 million move to Arsenal, the 23-year-old told the club’s official website in fluent English:
“I am very happy to be here. It’s a dream come true and I’m happy.
“I remember I was young and the first game I watched was in the Premier League. It’s a big dream for me and now that I’m here I am very, very happy.
“I like the style of football [in the Premier League]. It’s aggressive and I like the way Arsenal play football. It’s not like other countries but it’s very, very nice here.
“I don’t think it’s the same [style as the Bundesliga]. In Germany you can play aggressively but the referee will always blow his whistle, but in England that’s not the case. That’s better for me.
“I like to play football. I’m an aggressive player and also a leader. I’m only 23 but I captained a good team in Germany.”
He continued: “When I was younger, even though I had a big brother, my parents would give me the house key every day. It’s in my head that I am a leader and captaining Monchengladbach was very good for me.”
All good stuff from Granit. We’re not sure about you, but Arseblog News can’t help but get excited by the fact he may well be a bit of a psycho.
That said, we are worried about the cheeky dig at his older brother…especially as they face each other in the European Championships.
Granit, born in Basel, will be representing Switzerland, while his brother has opted to play for Albania, from where his parents emigrated. Let’s hope they don’t kick the shit out of each other.
Is his brother’s name Asphalt or something
Think so. So says his sister, Limestone
Hope Granit will be a concrete asset for Arsenal.
Just think of the puns you could make when he’s on the field with Le Coq. Rock-hard Coq-jokes incoming.
Having a Granit Coq will certainly make us hard. Hopefully other teams will find it a stiff proposition.
“jokes incoming”
Coq coming?
If it’s pronounced “sha-ka” then surely this is the best time for us to deploy a coq-xhaka in midfield!
Don’t take this guy for Granit.
Can we please sing to the tune of Faith No More’s Be Aggressive,then?
‘Be Aggressive, Be Be Aggressive
G, R, A N I, T X H A, K,A!!’
Anyone?
I think only FNM fans would get that. Which is why I think that, if you know the song, it fits perfectly haha.
Haha thanks. Yes, I realise my target audience was pretty slim!
first thing that came into my head too…. and, if you squint, he is the spitting image of mike patton :-O
He looks like that villain in die hard who also was the actor for the first hitman movie…
You realise that song is about swallowing cum right?
That’s not true. I just Googled “swallowing cum” and Faith No More wasn’t even in the first 100 hits.
You do realise one nil to the arsenal is to the tune of a massive gay anthem.
shhhhh don’t let the homophobe’s find out. Let em sing it with gusto every game.
Had to search that one on Spotify. Got to “I swallow, I swallow, I swallow” and thought nahh
Long shot.
That’s Walcott gone then, with Ramsey and Wilshere as possible wingers
How does the arrival of a central defensive mid affect Walcott?…
Because Ramsey and Wilshere can play as wingers as stated above.
Yes, because that will go down well with either of them..
Because he likes to hide in that area?
…and Granit will knock him “stone cold” out, if he comes across him doing it on his patch??
Coat on…:-)
Maybe a little unrelated here, but I have always been partial to Swiss players (behrami, inler, Shaqiri, even our own Djourou and Senderos) playing in the premier league. Wanted us to sign inler from udinese(or was it Napoli?) years and years ago and xhaka looks like he has the physical strength and speed of inler combined with some more technical qualities. I’m excited to see if he can gel into the team quickly and become one of those “first name on the team sheet” guys for years to come.
Boom xhaka xhaka xhaka xhaka xhaka boom boom,
Boom xhaka xhaka xhaka xhaka xhaka boom boom.
From ‘The hateful eight’ OST,
The king drapes (Ted’s)#14.
If Ronaldo and Wilshere had a love child, he would look like Xhaka.
He looks like a nice boy.
Pointless line down the middle of the shirt taking my attention away from brilliant new signing. Now I’m trying to remember when was the last time we won the league in ludicrous shirt.
1991 & 1998
It’s almost like a few years ago the club decided to launch a strategic campaign to get more women supporting Arsenal. Step 1: sign Giroud. Step 2: get rid of Gervinho. Step 3: sign Xhaka. Well played, Arsenal.
So where does Gabriel’s signing fit into that picture?
The contrast makes Giroud look even better.
I kid, I kid… he’s already a 10.
Xhaka la xhaka la Boom Boom Xhaka La..would play Xhaka. COQ Kos Gabriel . Against physical teams.Need a Suarez type psycho striker now to complete an Aggresive Arsenal.
Without the bitey racist stuff … of course.
Blogs, why is the news website not opening on new version of chrome?
Clear cache, refresh. Also, the site is very busy today, hence it’s a bit slow.
Also if you have an adblocker that might cause the weird composition. Had to switch mine off and then it worked fine.
Apparently he’s nicknamed “Little Einstein” because
1. He has a deep interest in science
2. He turns his mass into energy with explosive effect
Welcome to Arsenal Xhaka!
And he’s already got a song!
https://soundcloud.com/886beatz/little-einsteins-mix
Perhaps he can be a technology developer with Flamini’s company, then?
“In Germany you can play aggressively but the referee will always blow his whistle, but in England that’s not the case.”
Unless you play for Arsenal, or the referee is Mike Dean, or you even mildly sneeze in Kane, Vardy or Costa’s direction!
Dean, Costa and Mourinho – the PL’s triumvirate of cuntiness.
I love his statement so much I’m going to repeat it, yet again, my transcription:
“I think it’s not the same (BPL v. Bundes.) in Germany you can play aggressive, but the referee, he always blows the whistle. And I think in England, no. So it’s better for me.” 🙂 🙂 🙂
i like him already
He will soon have to learn that the otherwise lenient refereeing in the Premier League is not applied to Arsenal.
I guess he’s going to become the rock at the heart of our defence.
Just what we have been missing since the invincibles, rock hard balls. People are saying Ramsey or Wilshere will have to move on the wings, what happens to our Joel then? 🙁
So it will be Granit Xhaka vs Flint Xhaka in the euros?
Something like that Im sure.
Granite Xhaka, devourer of skulls. Nice ring to it
Watched him play in the Swiss winning team live at the under 17 world cup and marked him as a star of the future, later watched him alongside shaqiri destroying teams in the europa league. One thing I know for sure is he can play with a lot of room for improvement. Glad he joined us
That Basel are pretty good at producing quality players. That’s two Basel/former Basel players in a row we’ve signed.
“The most sent off player in the Bundesliga”
It shouldn’t be a good thing but still..cant wait to see him kick Costa off the pitch!
As we’ve bid farewell to Flamini we welcome Granit. May he snap That Cunt Costa (TCC) in half. And while we’re at it, give Arnautovic one for what he did to Debuchy as well.
Imagine having “Flamit” in the middle – carnage!!
Anyone else notice that Coquelin was wearing a 27 shirt at the end of the video? New number to make room for Granit?
I haven’t seen much of him, but I’m looking forward to. If Switzerland lose to Albania, I’ll be very happy. I hope he breaks a leg, in that match. Apparently, according to some stats I’ve seen, he’s got excellent passing ability, i.e. like Xabi Alonso.
About his name, I don’t know how he likes to pronounce it (in whatever Swiss language he speaks) but the “Xh” in his father’s name is pronounced as the “J” is pronounced in Jim Morrison. So ManLikeRobbie, give it a go! Like my comment and reply. Just kidding.
It’s no coincidence that we haven’t won the league without players like Vieira, Gilberto and Petit. Really hoping Xhaka finally signals the end of Wenger’s aspiration to emulate Spain.
He’s been that steel we’ve needed in midfield since Viera left. I’m really excited to watch him play this coming season! Hoping he gels well with Cazorla, Ramsey, ElNeny and Wilshere. Those passes over the top to Alexis or Giroud… the possibilities are endless!!! ????
I think that he might not get the chance to have very much effect when Arsenal play against teams that will set up camp in their own box. Xhaka would have been an excellent player for a team who plays like Ranieri’s Leicester. What do you think?
Please sell Walcott before Granit gets fed up with Theo “Theoing” his passes…:-0
About time we had someone with some fucking balls in the team, Been sorely lacking since Paddy left.
Now for a 30 goal a season striker …
I wouldn’t mind a 50 goal a season one.
Welcome to Arsenal, the best club in the world. Hope this new Granit wall is strong, very strong. Please kick Terry’s nuts when we play them.
I think his ability to play inch perfect long diagonals from deep is something that has caught Arsene’s eye. There was nobody in Santi’s absence who could do that properly. Not Ramsey certainly. Mikel Arteta was also good at that but he’s obviously not there anymore and who knows how long Santi will be around. Xhaka fancies a tackle as well, so if he can stay on the pitch we’ll be just fine. I’m sure our counter attacking will improve with a player like him. He’s one for the future, hence the transfer fee.
Oh and I didn’t mean to pick on Ramsey. It’s not Coquelin’s main strength either, Jack was out and Elneny played it mainly safe and short when he arrived. Sorry Aaron.
Why does his brother remind me of a certain Marco from Tropoja?
Why is Coq wearing #27 in the video!?
Apparently Aaron thought it was great banter to get someone to swap Serge’s shirt with Coq’s.
This jolly jape was arranged via the Welsh team’s Whatsapp group.
I might be miles behind here…but coq had the number 27 top on in that video which means xhaka is number 34 as thought?
Wenger takig advantage of Chelsea, City and United not settling their managers yet. Plus Euros could be a risk. If the player performs then, price may go up. OTOH the players /agents may also be aware if the player has a stinker, better to cut the deal now particularly for an emerging player. Anyone care to say Wenger doesn’t sign early? We have lacked authority in midfield and seem to have issues holding on to the ball/closing matches out in final 10min. Elneny is NOT a DM. Against City he was caught up field on at least 3 occasions which… Read more »
the new battle of old trafford : Granit Xhaka vs the Granny Shagger