Sidelined since September, Granit Xhaka hopes to make his return to full training in the next four weeks.
While the club reported the player had suffered serious damage to his medial knee ligament following a collision with Lucas Moura during the north London derby, the midfielder has revealed he’s also had to contend with a bone break.
“I hope to celebrate my comeback as soon as possible,” he told Swiss publication Blick.
“I’ve been gone seven weeks and a few days now.
“The bone was also broken twice. The problem with the bone is that it takes so long. I hope to be back in the next three or four weeks. ”
Arsenal’s most recent medical bulletin said Xhaka, who was pictured doing ball work at London Colney last week, would be back in full training in January. If his own timeline is to be believed, it means he’s ahead of schedule; no bad thing given we lose Thomas Partey and Mo Elneny to the AFCON, potentially in late December.
Xhaka, who signed a contract extension in the summer, also called on fans to be patient with the team following a turbulent post-Wenger period.
He said: “I’ve been here in London since 2016. Of course, I definitely imagined it to be different, that we’d always play in Europe, but it didn’t work out that way.
“When Arsène Wenger left us after 22 years, a new era began. We had a coach and another coach. Now we have Mikel Arteta, who does an amazing job.
“I know a lot of people are impatient here. They want everything to change overnight. But that’s football, you have to have patience and time.”
I’ll put my neck out on this one. I like Xhaka and I think we are way better with him in the team.
He’s an average player and a liability sometimes.
We need to sign a big quick target-man centre-forward in January. That would make all the difference.
It’s funny that none of Mancity, Liverpool or Chelsea use natural CFs at the moment. But they are thrashing teams left, right and centre. I think we really need a midfield that works if we are to get the best from any striker we have or want.
Mancity and Liver for sure. But Lukaku?
We are better with Xhaka in the team, so long as he’s not in the first team.
Better than what exactly?
Arsenal Standings by year:
2015/16 – 2nd
Grant Xhaka signed in 2016 summer
2016/17 – 5th
2017/18 – 6th
2018/19 – 5th
2019/20 – 8th
2020/21 – 8th
Better than… Norwich? Yes, that’s probably true.
By careful, mate: actually pointing out the truth can get you into trouble on this website.
Xhaka perfectly represents the utter mediocrity of recent Arsenal teams.
Better than the other current players we have?
He’s not.
It is actually simplistic to attribute the change in the club’s fortune to the signing of one player.
Plenty of other data to back up the issues too. Red card rate, most pens by midfielder in EPL history, errors leading to goals, then you can discuss the left side imbalance via inclusion forces…
I respectfully disagree and will say that Xhaka is a fucking liability, with limited talent.
Luckily for him, he’s had plenty other mediocre players around him, which is why he has lasted so long at the club
With the right partner I would potentially say Xhaka can thrive. Say we have Kante next to him, he’d be more focus on dictating play as he should. But with our current midfield options, Xhaka sticks out like a sore thumb.
Who wouldn’t do alright next to Kante?
Xhaka is the epitome of our problems. He represents so many of our problems over recent years – a lack of mobility, defensive errors which often led to goals (often connected to the lack of mobility), brain farts, a lack of dynamism and a player who can’t break lines, conservative horseshoe passing, and our general decine in general. YET, we seem to be a better team with him – certainly Partey seems better next to him. Surely only the current Arsenal can getthemselves in a situation where they’re a better team with a player who they would rather wasn’t in… Read more »
Yeah, he certainly splits opinion that’s for sure, but Wenger signed him and always picked him, Emery always picked him, Arteta always picks him and Mourinho wanted him, even if Roma tried to take the piss over the fee, but I think that had more to do with how they view Arsenal and how we did business rather than the value of the player.
I know what you mean so I’m not jumping down your throat, but I’d say players like Mkhitaryan, Lichtsteiner and Willian were the epitome of our problems – expensive, short-term and ineffective. Or Pepe, Holding, Mari, Elneny, Nketiah or Chambers – good but not quite good enough. Or Auba for the last 18 months. Put it this way, Xhaka’s ball progression stats are in the high 90s, Auba’s goal / assist stats are in the mid-60s at best. He’s there to move the ball, forwards if possible, and he does it very effectively. He’s also there to defend when required,… Read more »
He doesn’t move the ball forward effectively, the stats that show him as a passing leader are highly flawed. He loves passing towards the corner flag – which gains yardage and protects passing percentages, while doing little to move the team towards goal. He’s a defensive liability, slow into position, quick into tackles. He has never taken responsibility, especially for defensive mistakes. The sole ‘proof’ we have of his leadership is a weird captaincy polling exercise which at this point is worth about as much as the Brexit referendum. His strengths are suitable to a mid-table PL side – which… Read more »
👊👊👊👊👊
On your marks………get set…………everyone repeat their long held opinions on Xhaka !!
Lool so true
Indeed. The comments posted later than mine proving the point 😂
I don’t think anyone wanted change overnight even the people at AFTV. It’s high time we moved on from Xhaka.
“That’s football, you have to have patience and time.” Also good advice re tackling, as it happens. Listen I’m not proud of this, but there was a suggestion this week that Partey – a bona fide world-class all-round midfielder – would be benefited by the return of a ‘more senior partner’ in Granit Xhaka. I got triggered, shame on me. I really respect the person with that opinion (so much of what they say is genuinely interesting and thoughtful), but sometimes nuance is just hedging for the sake of hedging. Xhaka is a person, he is an Arsenal player, I… Read more »
If I were an opposition manager, I’d tell the team that 1 second before Xhaka receives the ball will be the trigger for the press.
lets hope he gets well soon and can play the second half of the season, because then we can move him on in the summer
I’d like to remind people that Xhaka’s availability during AFCON is contingent not only on how quickly he comes back, but also on him not getting another straight red for doing something utterly moronic.
Let’s just say I have more faith in his nigh-superhuman healing powers.
Xhaka is made of steel.