Various reports suggest Granit Xhaka is a transfer target for Roma this summer.
The Italian outfit are set to remodel their team to the taste of new head coach Jose Mourinho, and the Swiss international is of reported interest to him.
He’s a player he faced many times during his spells in the Premier League at clubs he got sacked from, but right now the fee appears to be the sticking point.
Arsenal are seeking something in the region of £25m for the highly experienced midfielder, while the initial bid is reportedly around the £10m mark, so there’s a big gap to make up there.
Xhaka enjoyed a decent season for Arsenal when you don’t remember the two games against Burnley, and is a player much liked and admired by Mikel Arteta. However, the need to sell, and the player’s desire to try something new after 5 years in North London are significant factors.
Since his arrival, the 28 year old has made 220 appearances in all competitions, and twice helped the team to FA Cup success, playing in the 2017 and 2020 finals.
One to keep an eye on.
I wager half the comments here would be glad to see this news. Not realizing Xhaka is a top player. If the move does go thru I have a big feeling he’ll do great at Roma under Mourinho
That said. If we reinvest the money for Bissouma and Auoar then it’s best for all parties involved. Keep Elneny as a decent back up, Willock as another option if we play a midfield 3.
Also best for all Partey’s involved.
Agree with you that Xhaka is a better player then being said most of the time and he can be a great addition to a team, but it’s also better for him and the club to move him on.
Yeah — nothing personal, Granit needs to move on from Arsenal, and if we are serious about actually getting back into the top 4 and beyond, we need better options in midfield. And all things considered, he has been a hugely underwhelming signing considering what we paid for him at the time. I understand why we did it, he was one of the youngest captains to get Gladbach into the Champions League, but I think we can all agree his spell at Arsenal has been noway near good enough. I also think its fairly damming indictment he has managed to… Read more »
And who is playing in midflield during the Africa Cup? Partey, Elneny, Pepe and Auba already out
I’m glad we dodged the Auoar bullet. He is just a very expensive attacking midfielder that doesn’t score goals. Bissouma looks to have a bit more about him and plays further back though.
I want to see Saka, Smith Rowe and Pepe behind a striker.
I am not sure of Aouar. He hasn’t progressed as expected. The attitude not great all the time. He was once punished for refusing to train on a pitch he thought wasn’t good enough.
If we’re not careful, we may start to think what we have is good enough.
I’ve heard people say that Chambers is good enough to be first choice RB. That now Pepe is firing we don’t need to worry about the attack. That ESR and Willock can share the ACM. And that Xhaka and Partey are a great CM pairing.
Some of this may well be true but other conclusions are based solely on recency bias. Xhaka has underperformed throughout his time at Arsenal. Simple. We need to move on. And he probably does too.
It’s amazing how no pressure wins at the end of the season make people think we were just unlucky and actually have a brilliant team. I wouldn’t mind upgrading all areas you mentioned. I think Chambers is a good RB, but I’d love for us to sign Aarons (and sell Bellerin) and then we’d be set for years. Xhaka – has improved and is a solid player, but it doesn’t take away from the fact we have to tactically adjust our team to cover his weaknesses. And in the Serie A he’d be much better suited to the slower pace.… Read more »
Fully agree with the post. Unfortunately reality might be different …
I agree with most, even though for me Bissouma is too similar to Partey. I’d go for someone with a different profile.
Partey is much more creative and direct than Arteta has him playing at Arsenal (he’s making about 60% of the pass numbers he did at Atletico and 1/3 of the long balls) because Arteta plays so much through Xhaka. Bissouma is great in his mobility and workrate, but he’s not as creative and is more a traditional DM (but can also drive with the ball – good dribbler 1.5 dribbles per game). I think they’d be excellent complements for each other – almost a dream partnership to increase our tempo and reduce our ability to be exposed against the break.
ACON
So you really would pass up signing someone like the quality of Bissouma simply because of a 1 month international tournament?
Problem is that Partey and Elneny will be gone as well. In that case we need to keep Xhaka or just already end the season end of December like we usually do anyway..
Yes. Because our other midfielder will also be gone, and our backup too.
Next season is so crucial for the club, the idea of spending 1-2 months without your midfield is ludicrous.
McGinn of Villa for me.
It’s amazing how no pressure wins save the manager’s job at Arsenal.
Good post. Things on the ground may be different though. Why can’t we continue developing Martinelli and Balogun as our strikers for the long term though? I woul also definitely keep Laca. He is currently our most potent target man. I agree with most of your other suggestions. Considering Willian might also be on his way out, we need a ball carrier. I think Willock is well suited but we may need to recruit someone else with experience, hence Buendia. ESR is very good at moving the ball with very few touches, which is wonderful, but should be complemented by… Read more »
No pressure win is a myth. They were trying to please fans after the EL disappointment.
The upturn in fortune began since December.
Besides, they were pursuing – rightly or wrongly – the Conference Call League.
In fact, it is the bias in favour of anything Mourinho wants. We hate him ( or like to) but anything he said football wise is automatically believed by a lot of us.
How are we so sure the club will invest enough for something better once he’s gone? That’s an awfully big leap of faith.
Can we also give them Willian too? Jose is a big fan and Serie A should suit him too.
Mourinho would probably take him on a heart beat too except that his ridiculous might be a problem. Afraid that it’s going to be expensive whether he stays or goes
Only half?
Xhaka is a good player.
He needs a team to be build around his weaknesses to protect him and harness his strengths.
The last year we kinda did that.
This is how a team shaped for Xhaka plays like. Slow build up. Cannot afford to commit players upfront. A top player usually drag the team upwards. I cant see that
Have our standards fallen that low that we’re calling xhaka a top midfielder now? Honestly compared to the midfield talent we’ve had in the past he’s not even top 10. He’s the better of a bad bunch at the club right now, top players don’t cost your team 15 points a season.
Yeah he’s europa league. So he currently gets into our starting xi on merit, but isn’t good enough to get us where we want to go. And we can still attract higher ability/potential players than him.
Would be a good squad player for a top 4 challenging team, but doesn’t seem the sort to be content on the bench. So, as long as we have a better replacement lined up, he should go
Also a player that thrives when given time and space, which we would get much more of in Serie A than the EPL
It’s incredible hey. A decent footballer but he wouldn’t make bench in any top team. Overall a not good enough to often liability for the Arsenal. Wish him well.
We don’t have to sell Xhaka considering his value to the squad. We just need to have better competition for him. Not his fault Elneny, Ceballos and Torriera etc are not better than him.
After all is said and done, the fact is Xhaka almost never missed a game. Under Arteta, Emery, Wenger, Swiss team, Basel and even Borrusia. And if he goes to Roma, he’ll always play. Perhaps there’s just something that his coaches see that we just don’t.
Duh…
“Xhaka is a top player” really? Do me a favour mate, he’s bang average, arrogant, doesn’t score, doesn’t assist, is too slow & we haven’t finished in top 4 since he’s been here! Plus he told the fans to fuck off & chucked the armband on the floor. Good riddance to bad rubbish!
We also haven’t finished in top 4 since Auba joined, or is just Xhaka, what kind of fudging the facts is that? How on earth a deep lying play maker is more responsible for lack of goals than the actual forwards? He may not be considered 1st choice but IMO, he’s an excellent option to have around.
Switch off you sigh.
I think he is a top player in the right circumstances, but I am not sure PL and Arsenal are the right circumstances. We finished in 8th place and had big difficulties to create chances, the status quo is clearly not good enough and the majority of players clearly didn’t perform at the required standard. Given the state of our finances, selling players will be required before buying new players and Xhaka is certainly a candidate that would be interesting to move on in terms of value, age, contract length but also more generally if we think about where how… Read more »
Xhaka had a good season even with the Burnly errors. Excluding those he has an excellent season and surely to the surprise of many on this site… some websites have even included him in the PL top 11. Xhaka has his limitations, but as it stands has been our best midfielder this season. Partey has shown flashes of his potential but really has struggled, probably due to never fully recovering from his injury. Every coach he’s played for has started him and I think even made him captain prior to his f-off to those home fans booing him which obviously… Read more »
Which websites have him in the PL Top 11? IheartXhaka.com? He’s decent but we don’t need a big squad next year with so few games.
https://www.football.london/arsenal-fc/news/granit-xhaka-named-alongside-harry-20664958
he probably will do great there because he’s much more suited to mourinho-ball where he will have plenty of bodies around him so his flaws aren’t exposed. he’s not the right player for us and never was.
Doing great for roma is no reason to keep him at arsenal. He’s noy great here. The league doesn’t suit him. We’ve seen this every year. He’s suited for Italy where he won’t be challenged physically to cover ground quickly. This while last season has been an exercise in how to set the team up in a way that protects xhaka and the knock on effects are huge. His passing is great but it’s nowhere near enough to be a first pick in a properly functioning Premier league midfield. If we could sell him for £15m I’d be delighted
Wish him well at Roma, but tbh I couldn’t care less about that. What I care about is our midfield rebuild post-Xhaka.
Absolutely. If its true that when you think of a specific period in a team’s history, usually you could think of one or two players who perfectly represented that period in the team’s history – say an Henry did for the Invincibles, or a young Fabregas did for the early Emirates era, Xhaka is the perfect player to represent our last five years, which have been our worst years in the PL. Yes, he is talented, without him our midfield falls apart, he has leadership skills, etc, etc. But what we really need is a clean break, psychologically, from this… Read more »
Firstly, I agree with most of your points. Xhaka did not always work well into any system at Arsenal. What did happen was that the things he did poorly, needed to be compensated, because the things he did well, and there are a fair few of those, he does better than everyone else in the team. Somehow, he became a representative of this period of underachievement, because the midfield was fit to his size. He held the midfield together like flour in a fry-up, but that’s about it. Flour doesn’t really have flavour, nor much substance. He came in as… Read more »
Lol, its just that Mourinho has often been referred to as Voldemort here, and I was only continuing that. Its just apt and an easy connection to make. Not very original I know, I won’t brush aside your irritation, especially since you make very good points about Xhaka. That guy is flour, you’re right.
This would be a bad sale… Most experienced member of the squad now that Luiz is gone. Is rarely injured. Very reliable and a good leader. Gives our midfield structure and order. In my opinion Xhaka is one of the best in the world when played in the correct system and the current system suits him well because he rarely has to cover alot ground when chasing back. I love Granit would hate to see him leave.
Hi Mrs Xhaka.. I Jest. Granit is an important player for us, we are stronger with him but there in lies the problem, we are stronger with him, with the current mixed bag of CMs we have. If we were to bring a player whose quality matched Parteys, xhakas importance would be diminished obviously but more importantly xhaka isn’t going to sit on the bench. I think it’s imperative that he leaves for the betterment of our midfield and if not adequately replaced, the exit of edu for not replacing him properly, or the Azeezing of our midfield( it might… Read more »
You just stated “One of the best in the world” about Xhaka… wow. That is some serious Kool-aid. Since his arrival we have fallen from a champions league team, to a Europa league team, and now to a non-Euro team. If he is one of the best in the world why aren’t Man City, Bayern Munich, Chelsea, Barca, Real, PSG chasing him? It’s not all on him, but he’s absolutely a part of that. The rest of that sentence sums it up “in the correct system and the current system suits him well because he rarely has to cover alot… Read more »
Not to mention Arteta has to warp the whole shape to reduce likelihood of his clangers.
Absolutely spot on Daveo. Could not agree with you more. I’ve been saying it on here for 4 years he is suited to a back three and Serie A.
Losing another experienced leader would hurt us. Laca next?
Leader? that’s Mclintock, O’Leary, Adams, Viera not Xhaka.
Didn’t know that they are still playing
In our current team Xhaka is a leader and one of the more experienced players.
Yeah, the amazing leader who has been leading us to progressively worse league finishes.
To quote Granit Xhaka, he can “fuck off”.
Xhaka is nowhere near as bad as some would have…..but can we get back in the top 4 with him as a guaranteed first 11 player ? Not for me.
Yeah, but the problem is he’s our second best midfielder in the squad and has been one of our most important and consistent players this season. Selling him right now should be out of the question.
I get that….but if we upgrade on him, he is a very expensive squad player to have around on 150k a week & this might be our last chance to find a buyer for him if Roma are really interested. If the funds are used to buy a better partner for Partey then it might be worth doing.
This!!!
If we don’t sell him now and upgrade the midfield anyway (which is needed – desperately IMO), then come next year with 1 year left and him as a fringe player he’ll be the next guy whose value we’ve absolutely crushed and we’ll be selling him for 5-10M quid – a guy that was purchased for 45M quid.
I believe it was just 35, but I get your point.
Yes, sorry. €45M:
https://www.kicker.de/xhaka-transfer-offiziell_gladbach-kassiert-45-millionen-euro-652643/artikel
Got my denominations wrong.
But does he need a “partner” at all? Selling Xhaka could be a golden opportunity to reinvent the Arsenal midfield, opening up the possibility of moving to a 4-3-3 if that’s what Arteta wants to do.
That is a good point, play two mobile 8s who can cause havoc in either box, and would mimic Pep’s City. Problem is we don’t have unlimited funds, and getting such quality 8s (someone like Sabitzer for instance) is not gonna come cheap. Another issue is how that would affect Smith Rowe’s role in the team, given that he’s most effective as that free roaming no 10. I think this could be rectified a bit of we sign Bissouma, because then Partey can essentially play as an 8, and with Willock returning, that slots him in perfectly in the other… Read more »
I think that essentially any quick and hard working 10 can also play as an 8 in a 4-3-3. Naturally that would include Willock, ESR and Ødegaard, but could also include Saka. And while Partey could play as an 8, what he did as a 6 under Simeone would the best way to play him in this team IMO. Bissouma, Berge, Elneny or anyone else we might buy at DM would be his back up in the single pivot for the most part. Maybe against the top sides, we could have Partey at 8 or we’d go back to the… Read more »
Yeah, possibly…..either way, it make sense to sell if we get a decent offer for him
Yeah agreed
Considering his importance to us currently, why on earth would we sell an experienced first team player and an international captain for £25m?!
When in the same breath someone like Brewster (I know he’s always used as the example) goes for more!
There are lots of players we need to let go badly, Xhaka isn’t one of them. His departure would definitely require a quality reinvestment.
That said, I would be gutted to see us sell at a stupid price. 25M should be minimum not the starting price from our end.
He played in a poor team which had a poor season, but there are many good qualities in his game which demands a higher price
What kind of quality are we talking about when we not gonna compete in europe?
So our competing in europe should be totally dependent on one player (Xhaka)?
And if this upgrade you so baldly want comes and doesnt hit the ground running forget being effective enough? Then the proccess of condemning and hating begins all over again right?!
Im all for improvement but my point is it seems the regular arsenal fan is never content with anything at all.
As a fan base we’re starting to accept mediocrity and it’s sickening. Regardless of whether he stays or leaves we need to upgrade that cm position badly. He should be a squad player for us at best evidenced by the fact no elite team is in for him.
Well said.
Would he get into City’s first XI…? Or Utd’s? Or Chelsea’s? Or Liverpool’s?
Would he fuck.
Bang average player and one of the reasons why we finished 8th. Again.
And we’re confident Stan will spend enough to improve on him? That is the key metric that matters here. So some fans don’t like him and want to see him gone. Fine. Sounds like he might have had his fill of the place as well. Can’t blame him. What happens when we bring someone in and either they’re stop gap shit, or promising but they hit the ground like Partey’s first season? Or we don’t fill the departure at all? If that happens I bet nobody honestly assesses their judgment. IF we improve on him and it works out, I’m… Read more »
Agreed. If he leaves and we don’t buy a proper replacement we are screwed. But I think we can find a replacement that better fits into how Arteta wants us to play.
Very bad news
Tough one. He’s 29 in September (he’s 28 until then though, that’s how it works) and has 2 years left on his contract – that means we have to make a decision (and if our previous experience is anything to go by, that screams ‘sell’). Then again, like it or not, he’s our best CM – Partey’s ceiling might be much higher, but he hasn’t proven that in an Arsenal shirt yet. Without him (and Luiz), we’ve got some serious problems progressing the ball up the pitch. His fitness is impeccable, he’s versatile – if we’re to sell, I don’t… Read more »
Also wanted to point out that ‘CIES Football Observatory’ named Xhaka a part of this season’s PL Team of the Season. Anyone know if that is a respectable organization and their observations carry any weight?
I think they are a Swiss organization, so dunno maybe a bit of bias there? That being said no way is Xhaka, or any other Arsenal player for that matter, getting close to any PL team of the season list based on what we’ve seen this last year.
And 3-4 years ago Mustafi was in WhoScored’s PL Top-XI.
Algorithms can’t see rubbish. Just 1s and 0s.
I don’t really get the talk of Partey being poor. I agree he can be better, but without Partey doing what he does Xhaka is half the player. Partey improved every midfielder we had simply by playing with them. From years of experience we know Xhaka isn’t a very good lone DM, without Partey moving forward and driving through the midfield (1.2 dribbles per game) with the ball we are stagnant on the ball with Xhaka because he can’t dribble (0.2 per game last season) and rarely turns his man. Defensively without Partey covering massive ground to drop back Xhaka… Read more »
At no point did I mention Partey being poor. We already need to strengthen our midfield even if Xhaka doesn’t leave – if he does, we might be looking at 2–3 midfielders.
Great point, people live in past. Xhaka has improved drastically since arteta arrived. Look at in tackling stats and interception stats this season! Among the best but people judge him off the past. He is even alot more assure in possession but they won’t see. Xhaka is a bit of a late bloomer and the best is yet to come from him. Call me stupid as much as y’all want.
Partey has been poor. How many good performances can you name this season? One that comes to mind is against Man United but they were crap early in the year. Watford beat them 2:0 two weeks prior and Burnley beat them 2:0 three weeks after Arsenal. So, nothing to brag about. On paper Partey looks good. On the field not so much. Some players take longer to adjust to a new league while others don’t adjust well at all. Hazard, Coutinho, Erickson, Falcao, Shevchenko, Veron, DiMaria, Higuain and Schweinsteiger come to mind. I give the guy the benefit of the… Read more »
We need to get used to selling older players when they still have value
Agree with this. Otherwise he’s going to either leave for free after 2 more years, or we get him to sign again and we’re still paying him when he’s 33-34 and get nothing.
We can’t keep letting players leave for nothing. It’s not good business
We need to get the hang of selling them for what they;’re worth though. Absolutley no point in selling him for less than £25m, even a like-for like replacement in terms of quality would cost more than £25m and we need to improve.
Yep. He’s worth around £25m, so hoping that’s what we get.
We’ve done well out of some of our sales – Walcott, Iwobi, Ox. But these have been few and far between, with a hell of a lot of players leaving for £0 or being paid to leave.
It’s time to start recouping decent money for our players.
Can we swap him for Mkhitaryan – a young up and comer
Problem is he is the best in the squad right now in regards to passing and keeping our game ticking along from the back, which is concerning.
I’m all for letting him go if we get a better replacement (or two). He does slow our play down, and is prone to the odd mistake or two. I still think he is a good player though, but I’d prefer somebody better if we can find them (afford them).
xhaka is our best midfielder and therein lies the problem, he wouldnt get into the sides of the teams that finished above us (hes not better than Rodri, Fabhino, Tilemans or Ndidi, kante tec imo) . hes not rubbish but we need an upgrade … (Bissouma?). I would sell, but only for a minimum of 25 mill and only makes sense if we get in a better, perhaps more mobile/more suitable midfielder.
I was thinking similar (but disagree RE: Xhaka being our best midfielder).
The only midfield he would have a chance of breaking into would be United’s…and that’s a bad reflection on them tbh.
Partey is our best midfield. No question. Which half of the season would you say Xhaka was better? Before Xmas or after? Which half of the season did Partey mostly play in?
i’d agree on paper Partey is our best midfielder no doubt but on paper arsenal shouldn’t finish 8th in EPL….but last season Xhaka proved to be our most important, and most durable, love him or loathe him he became integral and we suffered most when he played LB and not alongside Partey in Midfield where he was more needed.
anyhow my point was that we need an upgrade on xhaka if we are to get the best out of any other midfield we might care to assemble.
I agree Xhaka is currently our 2nd best midfielder. Ceballos was poor when played. Elneny and Xhaka are just a disaster together (as is Xhaka and Ceballos). Xhaka was solid, but the issue is to make him solid we play at a snail’s pace and take the ball away from a more progressive player that also has is work cut out cover up for Xhaka if we get exposed on a break. Overall I think we agree. It’s time to upgrade on Xhaka and time for him to move to a league in which plays to his strengths (if he… Read more »
If you just take their performances this season I would say that Xhaka was far superior. I believe Partey will improve a lot next season but so far he has been very disappointing bar a handful of matches.
I gotta say, Partey is by far and away our best midfielder. Even with the sloppy play this season compared to his standards, a quick eye test is all it takes to see how well he can do pretty much everything a CM should. Athletic, mobile, defensively astute, and can break opposition lines with a pass into our forward line (which is different from a ‘progressive’ pass btw), and there is an element of high risk, high reward to his passing, which I actually genuinely like considering how passive we otherwise are in games. Xhaka has his limitations, mostly with… Read more »
Granit Xhaka…he won’t fit in our best teams of the past. But neither will anyone from the current team maybe except for Aubameyang.
He cannot run but his positioning is way better than what we have on board.
It is better he leaves because we are destined for headless running and will get more runners to press and get the ball and play side way passes to show our brilliant technique in possession.
3 managers persisted with him? Sorry you were the club legend in Football Manager so, you know better.
Xhaka is a ‘good’ player but if we’re to improve, then we must upgrade. Its that simple. He’s not in the deadwood category but there is much better out there.
like him or loathe him, 10 million for one of our best midfielders who we paid 40 million for, who is integral to the way we play, an international captain who is under contract (2 more years) and in his prime (28). WTF are they smoking? We are so bad at selling we will probably accept a few million more while our fanbase convince themselves we got a good deal post pandemic and watch on as Chelsea flog Jorginho for 5 times as much.
Ten million is Jose shit stirring, he knows Granit is worth a lot more than that but there’s a section of Arsenal fans who hate him, so he’s hoping to stir it all up and get a top player on the cheap. I like Granit and would be sad to see him leave, but he’d be excellent in Italy or the Bundesliga and if it really is time to move on then surely he’s got to be worth over 25 million, even in a depressed market? Fuck off Jose.
Yeah I agree, hopefully Arsenal’s new head of contracts can get the ground running with some smart negotiations. We should be able to accept atleast £20 mil, nothing less.
Yeah, this seems ridiculous. I can see Xhaka and us thinking it’s a good time to move on. I doubt he wants to be a backup/squad player at this point in his career and it seems like we want a more mobile second midfielder, and 2 yes on contract. But he’s been key to our side this year so if he’s going, that should only be because we’re expecting a material upgrade, in which case we’re likely spending £40m+ this year. Are we really saying he’s worth a quarter of the replacement for his role?
He would be brilliant in Italy. 10 million is an absolute joke though.
Every player has a price. If the fee is £10m we keep him. If it’s £25m we sell. What is the tipping point at which we extract more value by selling than retaining? I’d say it’s around £20m.
$10m + $1. Take it or leave it.
A class player and one of the only gritty leaders in the team. A mistake to let him go.
I’m surprised no one is talking about trying Chambers in the Xhaka position. He was voted player of the season at (admittedly) Fulham when he played there. Chambers has defensive discipline and a decent pass on him. He might thrive alongside Partey.
That is something to consider interestingly, but Chambers is still not particularly a comfortable dribbler with the ball in tight spaces, which is an essential tool for a CM. It’s one of the things Xhaka is pretty poor at too, and its cost us more than once over the past few years.
I think that’s why people are clamouring over the Bissouma transfer, because he is naturally agile and hard to shake off the ball
100% Cklcrio. Chambers (who I like) is not even close to being a good option in midfield.
Xhaka would be quality in Italy with the style of play there. He was never going to shine in the Premier League, but has been a solid player with us for a few years. All the best. In terms of replacing him, we need to think carefully. If we get Bissouma and assume he’ll be the main partner to Partey, then in January (and probably for some weeks in February) we’ll lose them both to the African Cup of Nations, as well as Pepe, Aubameyang and Elneny (if he’s still here). AFCON is from Jan 9 – Feb 6. Probably… Read more »
I was more taken with Fabrizio Romano insisting that Willian was 100% going this summer. Not sure how reliable he is, but I’m clinging to it!
He’s Tier 1 on Reddit, no?
Noway,We need Xhaka, lets Roma take the mediocre Aubameyang instead
Wenger signed him and always played him, Emery always played him, Arteta always played him and Mourinho really rates him and wants him as his first signing at Roma, he’s been one of our most consistent players over the last 18 months and yet many would celebrate his departure. I guess if critics spend all their time focusing on his weaknesses whilst ignoring his many strengths then that’s how the narrative is going to be driven and people get convinced?
Sadly this seems to be how it works. Granit is one of our best players yet so many seem to be focused on getting rid of him and upgrading him. I like him a lot and would be sad if he goes, maybe he’s had enough of the continuous drama at Arsenal and wants to go somewhere where he can feel more appreciated, whatever happens I wish him only the best.
He deserves the opportunity to play where he’s appreciated. He’s carried an enormous weight for this club, and it was a shame we took so long to bring in the right partner for him until this year.
If the deal doesn’t happen, which would be a shocker as MA had to convince him to stay, Xhaka and Partey will be incredible for us next season.
I’d love to see that but sadly I think he’ll probably go. He’s played about 200 games for us and he’s always been fit, given his best, and taken a lot of responsibility, Emery really screwed him over. I’ll miss him and I hope everything works out for him
He needs to be moved on for someone who offers a lot more dynamism. Having said that, I think he’s part of our only decent midfield pairing, but in my opinion he’d be outstanding in Serie A. It would be a much better fit for him.
As someone who has watched granit play since his debut for gladbach. I don’t understand the hate from my fellow arsenal fans… And if he would go to Roma he would have played for three teams that I support which is kinda funny.
Xhaka is absolutely essential for Arsenal and we are a much worse team without him. That being said, if we are to challenge for the top 4 we need to stop being reliant on Xhaka and find a proper replacement. He is at the same time an essential player and a hindrance to progress.
25 millions sounds like a bare minimum for him.
A reasonable analysis. I’d like to keep him as an option, not necessarily the first name on the team sheet that he is now
Samba and M’Villa, anyone?
Good player, great character (overall in my opinion, ofc he had a very poor phase) but building our midfield around him and the style we reverted to was not successful, we went from 2nd place before he arrived to 8th. Not all down to him, but I would really like us to try something new.
We have an incredibly talented midfielder in Partey, if partnered with the right player our midfield could be scary (for the right reason, not as right now..)
PRAISE THE LAWWWD
We should be looking to recoup most of our investment here. 25m should be absolute minimum.
Personally, I’d rather see him stay.
He’s a good player, not a great player. Seems to be a pretty decent leader on the field. And he and Partey are definitely the best midfield pairing we currently have.
Do we need an upgrade? Maybe to make top 4. Could easily find a guaranteed and affordable upgrade? Again, maybe. I wouldn’t sell him on the cheap unless we were quite sure we were bringing in a definite upgrade.
He’s been the lynchpin of our midfield more or less since he arrived, our most consistent midfielder this season and pretty much vital for our current style of play. Yet, somewhat perversely, I see all of that as reasons for selling him, not for keeping him. For a long time now, we’ve badly needed to reinvent our midfield to make it more dynamic while maintaining a reasonable amount defensive stability. Moving on from Xhaka represents our best chance of doing that.
He is the very epitome of our bang averageness.
As I said elsewhere, would he get in City’s starting XI or Chelsea’s or Liverpool’s No he wouldn’t.
I’d be gutted to lose him, unless we replaced him with Declan Rice, which seems unlikely
Have to be careful if we sign Bissouma, the African cup could screw us, we play 6 PL games, and the FA Cup 3rd + 4th round while that tournament is on, which could derail our season
We’re already losing Partey, Elneny, Aubameyang, Pepe, we could really do without adding to that list
Jose Mourinho: ‘Retrain as a ball playing centre back’ . Oops this isn’t FM23 is it ? Seriously though, I think Xhaka would be a deeeecent CB going into his early thirties
Can’t tackle can’t head the ball gives away lots of stupid fouls
Apart from that he’d be a great centre back
Goodbye and thanks for all the fish.
I’ll miss him if he goes.
I love the nasty streak about him, and I think he is one of the very few who seem to give their all on the pitch.
The others are Tierney, Saka, Smith-Rowe and Lacazette.
I genuinely don’t understand how other clubs have moved to get their signings immediately at the beginning of post season. Bayern is a prime example.
Regardless who the manager is, this doesn’t seem to change.
Could anyone explain this? Is it primarily due to “when Arsenal knocks it’s a different knock” illusion that the hierarchy seems to believe?
Bayern knew where they were going to be in the table and in Europe next season. Arsenal didn’t know until the final day of the season what could happen. I think we’ll try to get things done quicker this time but it’s not easy.
He would suit Serie A. Never was a good fit in the premier league.
If it wasn’t for his pace he would be a very useful player.
Simple. If people try to lowball our offer then ask for a part exchange for one of their players.
10m doesn’t get you much. We will see more party exchanges this window
Why would we want players that aren’t good enough for Roma or whichever club? No more part exchanges, please, we get screwed every time. If they want the player give us the money. Even in a depressed market other teams seem to sell players for decent fees, we need to be smarter. Granit is a quality player and if they don’t want to pay it won’t harm us to keep him.
Having to play for Jose Mourinho would be fitting comeuppance for telling Arsenal fans to “fuck off”.
At any rate, I don’t see the point of relying on Xhaka next season. It’s clear our midfield needs rebuilding and he’s 29.
Let’s not waste another season by giving opportunities to a player who isn’t even in the mid-term plans.
Sell at any price and bring in someone who is.
Honestly, I’m amazed the guy was actually allowed to play for the club again. An utter disgrace.
He still hasn’t apologised to the fans, which speaks volumes.
It wouldn’t have happened in the days of Bertie Mee, Terry Neil, Don Howe, George Graham, or Bruce Rioch, that’s for sure. Sadly, I could maybe see Arsene turning a blind eye, but then his loyalty to his players was his greatest weakness as much as his greatest strength.
I’ll pack his bags!
I’ll call his cab.