It was barely two weeks ago when Granit Xhaka’s agent – clearly with the blessing of the player – went public with the news that the midfielder wanted to leave Arsenal and join Hertha Berlin.
It came not long after Mikel Arteta had been appointed as Arsenal manager, and it felt very much like the Swiss international’s future lay elsewhere.
However, it now seems that a detente has been reached and that the 27 year old will stay, at least until the end of the season – giving us time to source a summer replacement.
Xhaka’s relationship with the fans, and the club under Unai Emery’s watch, has been strained to say the least, but with midfield options fairly limited, Arteta sought to try and calm the waters.
“The first message for him was that I wanted to understand how he was feeling, why he was feeling that way,” he said.
“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.”
It also sounds as if Arteta will be laying down some ground rules for his players when it comes to interactions with fans online and off so as to avoid a similar situation.
“Every club has its own issues,” he said. “Some things come within the club, some within the media, some from social media.
“It’s very difficult nowadays to have one full year where everything is perfect. It’s the environment, we have to deal with that and hopefully in a few months nobody remembers those issues.
“Of course it’s not ideal when players respond and it creates an instability. So as much as we can avoid it, the better.”
Top stuff from Arteta, top man!
First bad thing Arteta’s done…!
I disagree mate, like him or loathe him, Xhaka has been much better since Arteta has taken the reigns and we clearly need his experience in midfield until at least the end of the season as Guendouzi or Willock just aren’t there yet.
I think it speaks volumes for his man management ability as well, as it’s pretty clear that Xhaka is a stubborn fella.
Hope Arteta continues to make decisions for the good of building a cohesive team and not to appease fan sentiment. Shows metal in my opinion.
#Artetaout 😉
@P gunner you are very intelligent and I agree with your comment even Arteta wouldn’t have said it better
Pooner’s a Spud, what can you do.
So Wenger, Emery, the manager of Switzerland and now Arteta is wrong and you know better?
Yes. I am a footballing God. I’ve erected my temple on the highest peak of Mount Football and all through the ages coaches from around the world have ventured here across treacherous terrain filled with JohnTerryish ghouls and Shawcrossian orcs to witness me sitting in my pants shouting “cunt” at the TV every time Xhaka gives away a penalty. Wenger was here back in 1803, before either of us were born, he smuggled in a miniature Pat Rice in his back pocket, and the little bugger stole my series of homoerotic tactical sketches of Robert Pires marauding down the wing.… Read more »
Ottmar Hitzfeld, who won the Bundesliga seven times with Dortmund and Bayern, as well as the Champions’ League once each, said that he thought Xhaka would end up at Bayern or Barça.
But Pooner might know better..
I can’t say for sure how accurate what I’m gonna say was back in the day, but when we went for Xhaka, aparently Bayern was chasing him to replace Xabi Alonso. Take it with a grain of salt, but he always been highly thought of by many managers. Just because we think he isn’t as good as we would like doesn’t mean he is a bad player and many managers have liked him. Maybe in the right setup he could thrive and he is doing a lot better now under Mikel
Just did a little googling and it did confirm what I as well remember — Bayern were considering going in for him both before and after he came to Arsenal. I’m glad he’s staying despite everything. Hope he can keep his head screwed on straight.
I’m not Xhaka’s biggest fan and would quite happily waved goodbye as he headed to Berlin but you have to applaud Arteta for his man management skills with a visible improvement not only with Xhaka but many other players in a matter of weeks when his predecessor floundered for months with deterioration rather than improvement in team morale and performance.
The key word there is Man management. Well done Arteta. Then there are the tactical changes. Nullify Xhaka´s weaknesses and he has very valuable skills that benefit the team. With Torreira deployed in his best position Xhaka will do fine. For the future a more allround top quality midfilder would bring us closer to winning trophies.
Oh imma be that guy…man management is two words. Spot on analysis from most of these comments though.
I love it when Xhaka is out on the left hitting big diagonal balls. I’ve noticed lately he seems to be making a few more runs through the center of the pitch. If he could figure out how to set himself up for a shot, that would be sweet.
Let him play good for the reminder of a season then when we decide to sell him in the summer his value will be up, it will surely be a good business.
Plus getting any good Midfielder in January might be a little bit challenging.
Agreed. I think selling him will still be the best decision because he struggles to grasp the pace of this league. He’s not a bad player. And Arteta will certainly empower/upskill him to fit the system more than our previous managers. Even if he isn’t a long-term option. An Arsenal midfield with Torreira, Guendouzi and a creative, intelligent, rangy passer would give us a real chance next year. But those midfielders aren’t available in this window. Certainly not with our budget. We should be using Willock more in the meantime and allowing Guendouzi to develop his own role, consistently. And… Read more »
I wonder who would replace Torreira´s and even Xhaka´s role if they got injured or something. As Andrew Allan mentioned on Arsecast we need someone else to be able to do a similar job as Torreira as he looks vitally important in this team. Maybe we need one more name in there even if Xhaka stays. What do you think about that guy – Boubakary Soumaré as an alternative to Torreira/ upgrade or an alternative option to Granit Xhaka ? Good technique, power, composure, seems good defensively. I suspect though that there would be interest from more clubs so he… Read more »
Well said! Also would be interesting to bring his compatriot D. Zakaria to the club, who is also very highly rated with quite impressive stats.
Maitland-Niles?
If he wasn’t injured I’d have chambers as my 3RE choice defensive mid.
It was a complete mess under Emery. Fans turning on one another, fans and players aren’t aligned, players themselves arent even cohesive on the pitch. I dun rmb it was this bad during Wenger’s last few seasons. While the board and players are also to blame. Much of it lies with Emery. His tactical decisions, choosing of captains, losing the dressing room contributed to all this. It was unfortunate that xhaka got the receiving end during tt game. Still baffling that the board took so long to fire Emery. Arteta has come and steady the ship and players are responding… Read more »
Great stuff, although it feels like this particular story has been recycled so many times.
every single time I’ve heard Arteta speak he was been brilliant, absolutely brilliant, we could be on to a winner here lads…
Loving Mr. No Nonsense Arteta – seems to have got the dressing room on board quickly and the fans. Whilst I am not expecting major moves this transfer window, I hope the board back him up properly in the summer and start shaping this team the way he wants it. It’s been a few seasons since feeling genuine optimism and it feels bloody lovely. Ya Gunners Ya.
I agree! Wenger and Arsenal seemed like such a good fit after he joined. I hope Arteta too will lead us to to unabated glory akin to those halcyon days of yore.
Xhaka is our best centre mid.
you talk about looking for a replacement next summer, but you don’t know whether he will actually leave on summer… why can’t you consider that he’s in fact a good player and that he could stay with us for longer? he stays, the club wants him to stay and launch this social media stuff about being all together, his teammates and coach also want him to stay, and yet you keep suggesting a january or summer move everytime you mention him… at least you stopped harassing him but get over it already he’s staying ffs
Agreed, I’d be happy if he stays.
No surprise Arteta likes Xhaka, he was a very similar player: great passer from deep but slow and limited defensively.
Arteta wasn’t slow, he regularly recorded speeds amongst the highest at the club.
Same with Cesc.
?
Source?
Arteta was proof that even if you have limitations you can be a massive player
Yeah but no disrespect to Emery or xhaka but arteta has intelligence levels similar to le prof, which dwarf the formers levels.
Put Xhaka in a great team, he will be a great player, put him in a rubbish team he would be the same. Same goes for Ozil. A midfielders role is more difficult than a striker or a defender because they rely on the players in front of them to move and and show for the ball to make their lives easier. If the team is static then midfielders run out of ideas and are under pressure in seconds.
If we cant replace him better keep. Thats the story i guess.
As it seems the club bosses are tolerating the shameful behaviour of this player and the damage he has done to the reputation of this club, Mikel might as well get the best out of him. While I rate Xhaka as a player, I still believe that due to behavioural issues, he should currently be suspended and not play for this club again. However, I understand Mikel that he uses what he has on offer and the behavioural issues happened before his reign, so if the club bosses allow Xhaka to be in the squad, the coach should use him.… Read more »
I get this point of view 100%, though personally I’m over it. It sets a bad precedent, not just the incident but his reaction afterwards. After his half-arsed apology and rather self-satisfied interview I was just done with him, it all smacked of the kind of arrogance, petulance and mental weakness. But now I guess it’s time to be practical and move on. If Arteta can get a tune out of him then he might as well stay for now.
Arteta vs Mob 1-0 … let’s hope he can keep them in their place….not managing our club
Despite what people think about Xhaka, in general or that particular incident, I think Arteta has closed the book on this one for now. Let’s just hope Xhaka continues to repay his faith in him.
This is good news – Xhaka’s looked like a different player since Emery left.
Even under Freddy, performances were improved and he’s playing well in this new system.
Not saying everything is fixed. But I think he’s got more value to us now. Or if he wants to move on, we may be able to point to the improvement to get a higher fee.
His improvement is a good thing for everybody.
The correct thing to do. As is, we have capability gaps all over the pitch. The last thing you need is a senior player who has been better than some prefer to think, leaving. Just to temper with some common sense, it wasn’t exactly as if the midfield was any better without Granit and with Torreira. In fact, if anything, midfield efficacy is dependent on both attack and defense also being in sync, closing gaps and pressing as a unit. Guendouzi AND Torreira have also made their fair share of lousy passes and both have been positionally caught high many… Read more »
I wondered when Emre Can would be mentioned again in one of your comments.
Emre Chan is a right-footed Xhaka that scored a cool goal once.
I get it. We’re light in midfield and to lose him now would only hurt the club’s early progress under Arteta. If Berlin are offering the same deal in the summer where we have time to identify suitable replacements and upgrade on Xhaka, I think we should do it. His play has improved under Arteta, but who’s not afraid when he receives a short pass in our end with back turned to the opposition? I just don’t think the Prem is suited for him. He could thrive in Italy or Germany. But as long as he is a Gunner, he… Read more »