According to The Athletic, Arsenal have exercised an option in Granit Xhaka’s existing contract to extend his stay at the Emirates until 2024. It’s understood we’ve also added a new clause giving us the right to extend his deal for a further 12 months to 2025.
The Switzerland international appeared to be on his way out of the club earlier in the summer but a proposed move to AS Roma, which he was keen on, fell through after the Serie A club failed to follow up with a suitable offer. It’s the second time an Arsenal exit has failed to materialise; in January 2019 he agreed personal terms with Hertha Berlin before changing his mind.
Given the state of the market and the player’s recent form, manager Mikel Arteta is more than happy to retain the 28-year-old’s services and sees him as Thomas Partey’s midfield partner for this season.
In the absence of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Alex Lacazette, Hector Bellerin and Rob Holding, Xhaka captained the Gunners in the season-opener at Brentford; the first time he’d done so since he was infamously stripped of the armband during Unai Emery’s tenure.
Since joining from Borussia Moenchengladbach five years ago in a deal worth approximately £35 million, he’s made 221 appearances for Arsenal and has 20 assists and 13 goals to his name.
He last signed a contract extension at the Emirates three years ago and is understood to earn a six-figure weekly salary.
Mikel Arteta may confirm the deal later this week in his pre-Chelsea press conference, but, given the current circumstances, we’re not expecting Arsenal to make a song and dance about it.
He already said on 1st August: “Granit is going to stay with us. He’s a player that we rate and value so much and is a key member of our squad.”
Take THAT José
Lol more like “take that Arsenal” from Mourinho.
Anyway, I thought Sambi and Xhaka were decent but our attack and Mari/Chambers were lacking.
Let’s hope we turn it around against Chelsea. The tide will turn immediately if that happens.
Xhaka in CM was not playing fwd passes, not breaking defensive lines with passes or,runs. Dull and useless as usual. What’s the point of having him in CM? Might as well play elneny.
Have you seen elneny play? It’s a bit of a pick your poison situation. Xhaka a much better player than elneny. He was a lot better than partey was last season as well.
I’ll tell you why I’d ALWAYS play elneny over xhaka. Xhaka, comes into the team (let’s say alongside partey) and says, ‘I’ll go and play in that safe space over there and play lots of passes when I’m not under pressure. You’ll have to stifle you’re game but I won’t make my mistakes any more and I’ll dictate our game’. Elneny comes into the team and says to partey, ‘you’re the talent, go play you’re game and I’ll back you up whenever it’s tight so you don’t get in trouble. I’ll fill in the gaps and will just keep things… Read more »
Well said. Watch the Brentford match, or any other match again. We move the ball so slow thru Xhaka. Even when the break is on we take our sweet time and eventually Brentford gets back in shape. This is Brentford gents, no disrespect, but pit that level of speed in our play against Chelsea or United and see how we won’t be able to build any meaningful attacks.
This is absolutely spot on. Partey makes his midfield partners look better. Xhaka makes them look worse. This is by far the dumbest thing arsenal have done in recent past, and it blows away some stiff competition. 3 more years of fake tough guy xhaka stifling out team. Not even sure I’m interested in watching that.
Can’t wait for the Sambi Partey
Seriously, if xhaka is chosen over that duo he should be shown the door before whatever game that is starts. I’m was really struggling to even want to watch arsenal games right now, this decision basically sapped my last ounces of interest. This is the problem with arsenal management. They are so out of touch with fans. And you cannot convince me that xhaka is a must. There are a few teams out there that play without him and have a heck of a lot more success than us.
I’d take that but I’d be shocked if either were ever pencilled onto the team sheet by arteta before xhaka
Then how Xhaka was good for Gladbach and Switzerland,teams which doesn’t have quality players like Partey playing alongside him?
They are defensively minded teams that play on the break and don’t focus on possession. So Xhaka can sit deep and isn’t exposed in space and then use his passing to start counters. Systems perfectly suited to his strengths that don’t expose his weaknesses. Arsenal play the opposite.
A lot better than Partey. WTF were you watching. The only games we were even a little incisive was when Partey plays as he is the only one that plays through the lines and tries unpredictable passes. But the guy is hardly ever fit so far. This Elneny vs Xhaxa is pointless they both shouldn’t even be at the club but they are probably two who care more than others. They both have extremely limited ability as Centre midfielders. For other sides they are the guys you bring on when your 3-0 up and seeing out a game…For us they… Read more »
Partey was good for about 20 minutes against utd, name me another game he played well in. He might have the worst percentage of shots on target in the history of the club.
Bad shooting does not mean he didn’t play well what kind of analysis is that. Oh he hit row z he played shit. He wasn’t even all that against utd. We just wern’t used to seeing a midfielder do the basics.. Just being there he was better than everybody else. The man has been here a season and most of our better performances have been when he played. If you want to criticise his fitness fair enough. Xhaxa has been here since 2016 and his only contribution is taking us down the table. Thomas Partey Has Been Much Better than… Read more »
I hope as much as anyone he has a great season, but no one will convince me he’s been anything than average so far.
Worse than Kaba Diawara?
Not quite, but he’s been more dennilson than Vieira
Sorry, but you see nothing except the obvious. Try watching how much partey has to cover xhaka defensively. Watch how much the team forces play through xhaka’s channel and away from partey. Basically the way we’re set up, we signed a 50m quid xhaka side kick. Doesn’t matter how many “Robins” xhaka has he’ll never be batman. The only way he functions is in a slow system and a deep lying team that counter attacks and doesn’t focus on possession (Switzerland).
Partey was average last season, he played enough games with xhaka missing or at left back to prove your theory wrong. I think xhaka is an average player but he’s far from the cause of all our problems like a lot on here suggest.
Did you actually watch the match? . Xhaka was not outstanding but came as close to scoring as any other player and also made many forward passes. Certainly not our worst player. Consistently good last season and very happy to see him staying.
There was one through ball to martinelli that put him through on goal. Xhaka chose to go wide to tierney. No club in world football was willing to pay more than 22 million for him 😂😂 I can’t believe some are still defending him. Wish the fella well but just not good enough to play for The Arsenal. End of.
😂 meant to be 12 million. Willock just went for 25 million. Just digest that for a while .
Think the willock money will go towards odegaard, same way the Martinez fee was used to get partey.
We did turn around against a Chelski last season but I do hope nothing like that happens this time (not that it can anyway). I wouldn’t risk the management giving up on transfers because of a one-time performance.
This guy has the most errors leading to goals conceded by a Premier League midfielder and we’ve just given him new deal and a pay rise..
Who is honestly surprised we are struggling when we are doing stuff like that on a regular basis…
And to be clear, I feel sorry for the player he wanted to go, and we didn’t sort it out (another shock).
He should’ve been moved on years ago.
I’m with you on this, it’s an acceptance of mediocrity that has gone in for way too long.
I don’t think Xhaka is a bad player but he is error prone and proven time and time again he isnt what we need as a CM.
I donno, I think he is a bad player, or at least in context of the requisite standard for the Premier League. It’s too fast and too technical for him. The one attribute he has is his left foot, but we hardly ever see that put into use because he needs so much time on the ball, and you just don’t get that in this league.
He is the weakest midfielder in the division I think, basically every single other midfielder is better than him and it shows in our results.
Giving him a bumper new contract is absolutely ridiculous.
I don’t disagree that we need an a more agile upgrade, but we didn’t give him a bumper new contract — we took up an extension on the existing one.
I don’t think people realise just how bad this news is. Arsenal had to move on from him this summer and take whatever they were offering. It is about more than money. He weighs down our whole team. Instead of saying thanks for 5 years and goodbye, we cling to him like the giant titanic he is in our centre midfield. He is the one player who plays nearly every single game and this club has gone backwards every season. The correlation is clear as day. He has NEVER had the right skillset for a top4 premier league midfielder. Turns… Read more »
I could not agree with you more. You are absolutely spot on. The number one thing I wanted us to do this summer even above signing new players was to sell Xhaka or get rid of him however possible. It doesn’t matter who we buy, as long as Xhaka is a mainstay of this team our football will continue to suffer.
Much as we need an upgrade on Xhaka, he is not the problem with Arsenal. The whole Club need an upgrade and overhaul- from the top to the bottom.
You are correct, he’s not THE problem but building our midfield around Xhaka is A problem for the club. Compare when Santi was playing as the midfield lynchpin. We had an extremely press-resistant playmaker with good ball progression concentration and adequate speed. Xhaka is practically the opposite of that. Hence why our midfield and by extension, our results have suffered.
I can even remember how many times Santi got us out of sticky situations against City and Liverpool just because he ran rings around their midfield press.
In one game, sambi broke the press more than xhaka did the whole of last season.
Sambience😎
Yes your right about the club.. .Everybody agrees to that. But to just dismiss Xhaxa as not a problem….Wow. Coincidence that since he arrived we have got worse and worse especially at playing actual football. We used to be the best ball playing team in the league especially in the middle of the park. Why do you think Wenger is so loved. His best work came in the post Highbury years. Keeping us a little competitive, playing some quite brilliant football at times with quite terrible squads half the time some of his own making but alot because of financial… Read more »
I genuinely don’t disagree with you….there is a story told by Rio Ferdinand when on his debut for United he passed the ball sideways to Neville…Keane turned around to him and said pass the ball fucking forward your not playing for West Ham or Leeds anymore your playing for Manchester United. As much as we might dislike Keane as a player one can only admire the sentiment…We have a central midfielder that every club knows his real weakness….giving the ball to him means time for opposition defenders to get back in position…for five years we have had him at the… Read more »
Totally on point
No NO nO. Your wrong. Xhaxa isn’t the problem . Hes better than Elneny…He had had a good season…he nearly scored against Brentford…All the managers trust him ( and got fired).
Funny thing is, you know for certain that if we fire Arteta and bring in a new manager, like Conte, the first name on the team sheet will be Xhaka’s.
Its speaks to the bigger problems at the club. I used to blame Xhaxa but now its worrying clear that he is the biggest leader in the team an the team is completely built around him.
We are producing more reliable characters in the squad, like Saka and ESR (and from what I’ve seen, Sambi, too), players willing to take on more responsibility and to own it, but it does seem like Tierney is the only other character big enough to command others. That is and has been a big problem. I think, as the narrative played out this summer, that the club wanted to move on from the Xhaka-era at Arsenal, but the market wouldn’t support the change. (Our collective disdain for Xhaka, well publicized and viral, certainly didn’t help us get a fair price.)… Read more »
Hopefully sambi and xhaka prevent xhaka from playing. In one single game sambi vastly outplayed xhaka (including covering the space behind him so we were not exposed by xhaka’s lack of mobility. If arteta picks xhaka over sambi when partey is back he should be sacked on the spot.
Totally different types of player.
Yeah one is a modern midfield playmaker that is mobile, can break the press, find a pass and get back and conver against the break… The other, well he’s xhaka. You talk like every team needs a xhaka or it can’t function.
You’ve seen him play once vs brentford, I think it’s expecting an awful lot of him to play all season. He played ok on Friday but if we play a midfield of elneny and lokonga against chelsea like a lot on here want we’ll get humped.
Mate, fans on blogs complaining about a player does not keep a club from getting a “fair” price. It happens literally to every club in the world – this is not unique to Arsenal. Xhaka, like most Arsenal players, is on wages that would instantly make them one of the highest paid players on any team they join outside the PL. That has been a significant issue for us in terms of shifting players to other leagues for quite some time, and that is only magnified during the pandemic. Xhaka clearly is not good enough to start for a top… Read more »
Dude, if you don’t think the relentless criticism levied at Xhaka across social media has any impact on him and his value, then you’ve really got your head in the sand. Mourinho was, I’m sure, integral to Roma’s courting of Xhaka this summer and to their absurd financial offer — he knows the situation well. Of course, clubs across Europe are having a hard time shifting players, especially in the PL. The market has endless supply but no one can afford to buy. All of the top clubs in England have players that they cannot move on; we’re not alone… Read more »
You’re nuts. Every club in the world has fans that routinely criticize players. What counts in in shifting players is: number of clubs interested in them – in this case Roma was the only club in the world to show any interest & only at a valuation much lower than we were willing to sell at. I would note it’s not about money for them either as they were able to easily afford Abraham at roughly 3.5 times the price. wages they are on – he’s one of the better paid Arsenal players – supposedly only 7 players in the… Read more »
Of course, but I don’t think the chorus is as loud and unified as it has been in the case of Xhaka. Pogba is a similar example, though there wasn’t the same public falling out between fans and player. If the gossip is to be believed, Mourinho courted Xhaka with the promise of being his midfield general, wages were agreed quickly, but Roma offered half of Arsenal’s valuation and wouldn’t budge. As you say, it wasn’t a money issue — Mourinho knew he could lowball the offer because Arsenal fans don’t want Xhaka, the club was ready to move on,… Read more »
In terms of debating the actions of a football club, blaming the fans of a club who criticise a player for the failure of a buying club to meet the asking price for that player is your jumping the shark moment mate.
It’s part of the equation. I’m surprised such vociferous fans don’t believe that they have an impact on such things.
If it is, it’s at the Graham Stack part of the Invincibles equation level.
We didn’t get what we wanted cos there wasn’t much of a market for him. It’s about his quality level, not fans moaning about his quality level.
They probably low balled b/c we are such bad negotiators that it’s never paid to meet Arsenal’s valuation. Miki – we turned down a 10m bid from Roma as derisory & then sold him to them for 1m less than a year later….. I’ve more or less given up on Arteta at this point. If he still hasn’t figured out what’s wrong at 18+ months in charge why is he suddenly going to get it now? His only saving grace is the Kroenke’s know/care so little about football that he hasn’t faced the pressure he would at any real top… Read more »
Then isn’t it a step in the right direction to begin negotiating like we aren’t drunk on a yacht somewhere and not give over our players for peanuts? Dude, you gave up on Arteta a long time ago — as have so many people on here, and it is your blessed right to do so. I think the club are going to stick with him through the Fall, but as Winter approaches he could find himself out in the cold if we don’t start winning consistently. What I wonder now is whether Arteta reverts to the resilient formations and gameplans… Read more »
The gameplan for the FA cup run never really was sustainable, which was the whole issue. It relied on us playing ultra – defensively and then converting on virtually every chance we had. We had like 2 shots on goal against Chelsea and scored them both. Arteta’s entire issue is he can’t figure out how to consistently create chances against sides we need to attack. It’s largely b/c we move the ball so slowly IMO, but regardless it’s been a consistent issue his entire tenure. I really don’t know how long Arteta will last b/c the Kroenke’s don’t really seem… Read more »
Not sustainable, but effective, and winning creates a mood. Lots of teams get big wins playing that way; I don’t like it, and Arsenal fans don’t like it, which is why there is a mountain of pressure on Arteta to bring back the style and the goals. I think the board have gone all in on Arteta and the rebuilding project, but it isn’t going as well as hoped — clearly. Things are really bad, despite the promise of both squad and manager, and if they aren’t sorted in the coming months I’m sure we’ll see another big change. I… Read more »
It was effective in the FA cup while at the same time we still put up bad league results and went out of the Europa Cup. It was great to win the FA cup (again), but in the EPL Mikel has a record of 58 games, 27 wins, 13 draws, 18 losses. That’s not good enough, particularly when he has been more focussed on experience than youth to this point and with the team playing turgid football. I’d be ok if we went counter attacking and got some results. I’ve always said this team is suited to playing a high… Read more »
It’s definitely not good enough, and I don’t think that is news to MA. I honestly think MA wants a high-tempo game, but he’s struggling to get this squad to produce it — and as you say, that will spell the end of his tenure with us if something doesn’t change.
Oh, and what do you think about Jorginho in this conversation — doesn’t he kind of suffer from significant flaws like Xhaka, but still figures prominently in a CL winning side?
Jesus wept 🤦♂️🤦♂️
A deep lying play maker can work, but they have to be much more incisive & move the ball much faster than Xhaka does. Far too many of his passes are the slow, safe option which slows the game down and allows the team to reset. Keep in mind that Chelsea also has Kante – easily the best defensive mid in the modern game. It’s beyond a shame that we chose to sign Xhaka rather than paying the agent’s fee to sign Kante when we had the chance. Ideally our midfield would be fast & athletic – Partey/Sambi & ESR.… Read more »
Not quite sure if you answered my question — is Jorginho better than GX, or does it just appear that way because of the presence of Kante?
I’d love to see more of a dynamic midfield like the one that you propose, but I’m not convinced that Martinelli is ready to lead the line to any effect. I’d much rather have Aubameyang.
Jorginho is significantly better than Xhaka. They might be similar style but it’s a little like comparing Kante to le coq.
Would just prove that all the other managers were right. I have never understood the agenda against Granit at any time.
The defensive awareness issue is a huge one. I watched the Switzerland France game which is the game that led to so many saying he had a great euros. He played a really nice ball for an assist and mcoist says how lovely it was. The narrative from that point changed. But all I did is watch the guy the entire time he was on screen. He was an absolute liability in his defensive positioning, and laboured attempts to close players or spaces. One led to a goal. One led to an easy pass to pop a to tap in… Read more »
More like jose saying ‘ take that, Gooners!:
More like Take That saying “Gooners Jose”.
Three Man Utd fans (Owen, Donald, Orange) a Liverpool fan (Barlow) and a Port Vale fan (Williams).
They’ll all be having a chuckle at Arsenal right now, that’s for sure. Sure so sure.
Extending is just a clever way of ensuring that Lokonga has a great season, with Xhaka left being paid to sit on the bench for 3 years (alongside Willian and the Ghost of Ozil). It’s genius.
Plus Auba and Cedric
and Bellerin and Elneny
Hahahaha, I love Arteta. His thinking is as clear as mud. Spent whole summer flogging Xhaka away, and now he gives him a new contract.
Arteta. the coach of our dreams
The words ‘headless’ and ‘chicken’ spring to mind.
The words toxic supporter springs to mind
Fack me!!
2025………….. this club does not deserve the financial and emotional support it has been getting. Fans are being mocked and embarrassed.
Summarised in fewer words that I could have managed😐
*than
Arsenal has been doing so for years now
And there’s no stopping it anytime soon… Bloody feck me already!
I believe you, sir, myself, and the rest of us have just been at the end of the activity you are referring to, by arteta, edu and the kronkes. I have no doubt it is a style in reference to a male biatch.
We have these players on our list for the considerable future: – Willian 2023 – Cedric 2023 – Mari 2024 – Xhaka 2024/25 – I know he’s one of our best strikers but on current showing, Auba 2024 All the above signed under Arteta and Edu. Look at the outgoing as well: – Emi for £20M, after winning us the FA cup. Went on to be Villa POTY and won the copa. – Willock for £20M, right after that scoring run for Newcastle, only bested by Shearer. A mere £20M, when none of our midfielders can score for their lives.… Read more »
If Ramsdale is 30mn pounds, then Martinez was worth 50mn, and Willock 60mn. It seems English premium does not exist for Arsenal’s home grown players
This just shows how much is wrong with our current set up. Can’t sell him to a mid table Italian club for what we want – let’s lock him into a new long term deal. Rumors that we want to get rid of Auba after his new deal. Turning down 12m for Eddie only to likely lose him for free. It’s obvious we need a strong sporting director who can actually guide the club with a longer term vision. Instead we have Arteta & Edu largely doing questionable / panicky deals.
Can’t wait for Xhaka to score his one yearly goal and do his “everyones talking” celebration as if he’s finally shushed all his haters up. No, Granit, you just look like a petulant asshole.
Abuse him all you want; he’s signed and will be here till he’s 32. End of story.
You either get used to it or be ready for 4 years of bitterness.
Who was appreciated by, Wenger, Arteta, Mourinho, Emery, Hitzfeld and Petkovic…
🙂
You tell the truth and people will still give thumb down. 🙈
He’s just not a CL player, at least in the PL. his limitations are so significant that it requires the team being but around him to hide them. He’s far too slow & easily pressed -a very bad combo for the PL. he would be fine in a slow non physical league – hence Maureens interest. He’s decent for the Swiss as well as international football tends to have more space, although he still struggles there against pressing teams. But arguing 3 managers sacked in the PL, Arteta & an international manager favoring him doesn’t exactly mean he’s world class.
Arguing managers with…
16 League titles in the top5 leagues
4 CL titles
5 EL titles
But yes – it still doesn’t mean he is world-class.
But I think the fact that he was quite a respected player by these managers means that maybe… we fans should put him much, much lower in the list when we are looking for a reason for the downfall of our club.
or potentially they overestimated him as Wenger/Emery & potentially Arteta all will have been sacked while making Xhaka a key component of their midfield.
I don’t have anything against Xhaka per say but building our team to hide his limitations has a dramatic and negative impact on how we play IMO.
Or maybe you know better than all these great, successful managers, including the greatest manager in our club’s history.
In recent years, fans like you have got things your way a lot more than you seem to appreciate – Wenger gone, Ozil gone – and yet we’re much worse than we were before you started to get things your way. Maybe you’re just not as knowledgeable as you think you are.
So what is your solution then? Should we have allowed the slide to continue under Wenger? The on field product had deteriorated pretty markedly while squad and contract management were utter shambles. Ozil I would also point out hasn’t exactly lit the Turkish league on fire, which tells you a lot about where he’s at as a player.
You ask for my solution, but I wouldn’t have started from here. If it were down to me, Arsene Wenger would never have left in the first place, because some of us KNEW that things would only get worse after his departure; not better. His “slide” was down to us being priced out by City and Chelsea of signing players we really wanted, and having to make do with the next best available. To think we could compete with those clubs with a different manager was ridiculous, when we struggled to do so with the greatest manager we’ve ever had.… Read more »
Wenger was our greatest manager, but unfortunately the game had clearly passed him by the last few years of his reign. Let’s look at some facts: Wenger had one of the highest net transfer spends in all of Europe his last few years in charge. He spent a lot but rarely sold players for anything which meant that getting transfers wrong had a disasterous effect. His last few major transfers in charge were: Xhaka (instead of Kante), Mustafi as one of the most expensive defenders in history, Perez for 20m & Laca who has certainly not lived up to his… Read more »
You keep telling yourself that “we would be in pretty much the same position at this point if he were still in charge” – it’s better for your mental health that you think that rather than realising that you’ve helped fuck up your own football club.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe you’re one of these people who feels (as do I) that our current squad isn’t so bad that we finish this low in the table. So clearly, we’d be higher up with Wenger in charge, and therefore, not “in pretty much the same position”.
If Wenger were still a top level manager he would be managing somewhere, particularly as he made it pretty clear he didn’t want to leave club management. Arteta likely isn’t the answer, but neither is Wenger.
I would suggest you tone it down a bit as well. Everyone of your interactions with people on this blog involves you insulting people you’ve never met and generally just spewing anger. Life is too short to just spend your time berating people on the internet, particularly other fans of the club you support.
Wenger wanted Kante but Chelsea had more money.
Tell me what Xhaxa offers the team…and what he has done since 2016.
* Silence……
One of the best forward passing ranges in the country. Always gives 100%. Great leader and captain and respected by all manages and players. Despite the flak plays consistently well.
😂😂😂😂😂 you are a funny guy.
Wenger and Emery got fired…Arteta just sealed his fate. Mourinho is in Italy which suits Xhaxa, likewise Germany at the time and international football is also slower. We all saw Xhaxa against France. Nobody, will I’m not saying he is shit, his attributes just dont match the prem.
if he was so appreciated by Emery, why didn’t he try to sign him? All managers do that.. they try to bring quality players they managed in their last teams but nope, he didn’t. For that matter, nobody in the world except Roma has showed any interest in our midfield maestro, even though he had such an amazing Euro, and even they refused to go beyond 15mn for him. This is his value. I am not saying it – all the managers in the world combined are saying this. Well, except Arteta, he gave him a new contract with a… Read more »
Showing interest is not only about who would you like to see in your team, it is also about your financial barriers, and also about who do you have already.
The most expensive arrival in Villareal’s history was Paco Alcacer with 22 mn Euros.
And I don’t think that just because Pochettino doesn’t show interest for Aubameyang at the moment means that he is a worthless striker.
Wengers last 2 seasons with xhaka saw our team getting ripped to bits. Emerys team got ripped bits. Both got sacked. Xhaka has never played for mourinho and he wouldn’t pay even £15m for him
So what of his managers like him. This is the issue. He’s clearly a hard trainer and a good character with his teammates and coaches. They like him. But it seems they are all being blinded by that so they all do what ever they can to make a team work AROUND HIM. this is the problem, everything shaped to make xhaka look decent and the team to sort of function with him, so all the players covering those weaknesses are now prevented from playing their natural roles. And we’re now at 2 (and nearly 3) arsenal managers that have… Read more »
I guess they thought it would be cheaper to replace him, but when we went into the market the net from Xhaka to his replacement was just too big to bother.
We just replaced him for 18m quid. Sambi lokonga. If we sold xhaka for the reported 15m or so, that is basically the fee covered and we now have a guy that will increase in value instead of another player we’re going to be paying off to leave in 2 years.
Exactly!! This is legit 🤢🤢🤮 inducing levels of depressing news. It reminds me of the time when the club swiftly announced they were re-signing David Luiz after that dreadful City game. This new contract costs the club more than whatever difference the £15.5 million bid was to Arsenal’s selling price for Xhaka. Xhaka himself has wanted out of this club since two years ago. About half the fanbase and three-quarters of match-going supporters have lost confidence in the guy. He’s probably the second most unpopular player at the club after Willian. Why the club is choosing to prolong this toxic… Read more »
The club is completely out of touch with the fans interest and 1. They’ve shown nothing that their decisions should be trusted (see ESL, Martínez, willock, making xhaka captain after his temper tantrum, and now a new contract for the fake tough guy), and 2. They show no interest that they care, just a little lip service to the supporter groups that they’re listening.
#KroenkeOut
#ArtetaOut
#eduOut
#VinaiOut
Indeed. I’d honestly just prefer if this current regime was given no more money. Be that from supporters wallets or club reserves. I’d rather the additional resources were made available for the next regime. A serious overhaul would be raiding Ajax for their CEO (van der Sar), director (Overmars) and manager (ten Hag). They’re by no means without their faults but one good thing is that they’re less wasteful with Ajax’s resources and have an actual strategy. Some promising squad signings can’t gloss over the organisational wastage IMO. I’m only looking from the outside but how does one explain: (1)… Read more »
Shady too
Possibly a good deal really, play him for another season then hopefully get more money for him in the summer as he has longer on his contract. Whats more likely is he will fall out of favour at the club and sit on big wages until he goes for free. On a side note, we know we dont have the best players in the squad and that they arent really good enough for a club as big as us, but please can we just back the players, show some support to them so we can get the best out of… Read more »
The article says it’s a 1 year extension, with an option for another 1. So technically next summer he will be a 29 old year old with 2 years left on his deal. So yeah, we will definitely get more for him next year than we did this year when he was a 28 year old with 2 years left on his deal.
Let’s not dress this up – it’s an awful, awful decision. End of.
Yeah but you can’t blame the player for bad decisions from the people running the club
I’m not in any way blaming him. I was responding to your point where you said ‘Possibly a good deal really, play him for another season then hopefully get more money for him in the summer as he has longer on his contract’
Sorry for the mix up! But i still think it could be good for us in the long run. The market will be better next summer, clubs will have more money and we will be able to get the nearer the price we want for him, especially if he still has 2 years left on his contract
A 29 year old Xhaka w 2 years left in Summer of 2022 will likely sell for MORE to a European club than a 28 year old w 2 years left in summer of 2021 considering how few non EPL teams have any money to spend THIS SUMMER. Apparently He was worth £10 million this summer. It’s very easy for me to see an Italian or German team paying more than 10 million for xhaka next summer Do upgrades in world soccer exist? Of course. And I’d love to see upgrades at RB CDM GK CAM and ST. But the… Read more »
The effects of the pandemic aren’t going to vanish in 12 months, even if the pandemic itself were over, which I greatly doubt it will be. What you’re likely to see is a three-track transfer system – the very richest clubs paying more and more, the other English clubs buying players for £30 million maximum, and there rest of Europe being very cautious with their money. The days of Arsenal being able to sell their garbage for thirty million are over – and I’m pretty sure they existed to begin with. If we’re offered €12 million for a player we… Read more »
I’m not his biggest fan but I don’t think Xhaka is a terrible player like some make out. He’d probably do quite well in Italy so it is a shame that didn’t materialise. I put lack of interest down to his relatively high wages coupled with the fact that nobody has any money given the pandemic and its effect on club finances. With that in mind I get that clubs including Arsenal want as much as they can get for players. Even if the differential between Arsenal and Roma was 8 million (I just made that up) when you consider… Read more »
Utter madness.
To be fair they are doing a Madness all ITK’s told us about.
I’m much happier with this vs. a brand new long-term contract with a pay rise. But still would’ve rather us upgrade on the position, no doubt.
Anyone remember last summer when we could not sell Mustafi and offered him an extension instead BUT HE REFUSED. I know Xhaka>Mustafi but it is really telling how we are managed by incompetent people or out of their depths.
goodness i’d forgotten about that
We need an upgrade on Xhaka. Not necessarily a replacement.
Squad space is limited because mosy wantaway players haven’t been sold or loaned. Therefore an upgrade on Xhaka would have had to have been a replacement for him, unless we found a teenage prodigy that wouldn’t require registration.
Honestly, it’s like Mayor in ‘Jaws’ refusing to belief the Chief of Police that there is a killer shark responsible for the corpses being washed up on his town’s beach.
The theme from ‘Jaws.’ There’s one for the lads to walk out of the tunnel to at the Emirates.
“Just when your Arsenal hopes thought it was safe to go back into the water…..”
https://youtu.be/E-sX2Y0W8l0
“You’re gonna need a
bigger boatbetter manager.”It’s frustrating when you pay people handsomely to do a job and they come up with this. The people running our Club are grossly inadequate- that much is obvious.
Pennies are finally beginning to drop.
Hallelujah.
Mustafi is a free agent. Seems no club rates him
The issue lies with people managing the club. They are trying to handle Xhaka situation like Nelson. Sign a contract extension and then loan him out.
Apparently they still hasn’t figured out that this approach won’t work with Xhaka
Thank you for reminding us that, dear friend. You are right, these deals are proofs of where we are heading, and the destination seems to be mid-table.
Lol, Mustafi must be regretting that decision now
Yep. Mustafi clearly thought he would get taken by a good club on a free though, and ended up with a terrible Schalke side, getting relegated and booted out. I don’t think Xhaka is as deluded or as bad a player.
4 more years of Xhaka?? That’s our ambition to get back in to the top 4…
Why is it for Switzerland against France he can spend the whole game knocking in world champion defence splitting passes, but stick him in an Arsenal shirt and he can even kick it forwards? I get so frustrated with seeing opportunities to counter attack coming to a grinding halt because he’s decided to play it back to the defence.
The forward players has to move to a space so that there is a pass on. When the opponent is not sitting 9 or 10 men back and playing a higher line, there is more options to play it forward and over the top. With our system and lack of movement, only Tierney and Pepe are in space, sometimes ESR with his constant movement.
You are right. But As a centre midfielder sometimes you have to work space for yourself to make a different passing angle. See Vieira, Cazorla, Fabregas even flipping Alex song.
It’s almost as if there’s a different manager managing the Swiss team who instructs his players to do different things..
The game against France was the last game he played in the Euros, not the only one.
Let’s not gloss over his average performances in 2 other games & also the game against Italy where against a team who played with a high tempo he looked as bad as he has ever done for Arsenal. Completely outclassed by the Italian midfield.
And don’t forget he missed the quarter final because, even though he knew a yellow card would lead to a ban, he couldn’t keep his fucking mouth shut and got booked for dissent!
That gets glossed over all the time but he let himself and his team down and is indicative of the absolute fuckwittery the man is capable of.
He has been much improved and I don’t loath him staying as much as I would have a year ago, but I reserve the right to moan like a bitch at the next ticking time bomb detonation.
People forget that France were shite and arrogant and refused to press anyone. Especially in that game against the swiss. He had good games like that in the prem when for whatever reason the opposition manager decides not to press him. You dont even need to press him just stop him from turning. Which is easy.
🤣👍
This made me chuckle. Honestly, some people STILL don’t get it, do they?
It’s not the players, it’s how they’re being asked to play.
Are you even watching our games?
If he isn’t your cup of tea, great. But he did pass the ball forward. A lot.
Not sure about the downvotes here because you’re absolutely right.
Some people just don’t want to be proven wrong.
So many down votes shows the biased agenda against our fine deep lying midfielder
There is no agenda its right there infront of you if you had any understanding of football.
You are right Saps. He does pass the ball forward a lot….but the problem is his lack of speed – in body & in thought – means that a lot of the balls he passes forward are not anywhere near as effective as the balls forward he could have played if he could move & think quicker. He is what he is : not a terrible player by any means & a player with a lot of qualities…but also a player with such flaws in his game that can’t be changed that none of the teams we are hoping to… Read more »
The team is built around Xhaxa, he is the heartbeat and most important player. That is the problem. What don’t you get about that. As long as he is here we will not progress. Hes not gong to get any better or quicker.
Mikel Arteta.
I think it is a lack of coordinated pressing at the international level.
That Switzerland-France game was the most static I’ve ever seen Kante. Their midfield barely even closed Xhaka down when he made that pass. From the games I watched, I think Italy were the only team with rehearsed pressing patterns at the EUROS.
At club level Xhaka is usually faced with either a midfield press or a packed midfield block. Ideally, if he were a more nimble footballer, he’d either play quick 1-2s or dribble past the opposition to get out of these scenarios.
Except if you really watched he has one of the best forward passing ranges in the country
When he has time and space. Which your not afforded to much of in the prem. Especially now when everybody knows are weakness. Why do you think we play horse shoe football.
Ur arguments r really good but ur conclusion has let u down. The difference btwn switzerland and arsenal is …. Drum rolls….. Coaching, meaning xhaka is not the problem but how he is instruted 2 play. Btw, this does not mean that we don’t need an upgrade on him
He has time to turn in international football. and for some reason France gave him acres. Did not press him all night, which teams make the mistake of doing against us sometimes. Most competent managers would have a guy press Xhaxa as soon as the ball is fed into him and he is nullified completely. Emery destroyed us with Villareal using the complex tactic that is Just stop Xhaxa and play 1 or 2 ball carriers on your own team..
HOORAY!!!! Great news!!!! Banter Club F.C.
This is the worst season ever!!
I really can’t remember a less exciting season. There’s just no evidence that Arteta is learning / willing to change tactically. Our off the field decision making is questionable to say the least. Add in that we’re simply hoping to avoid a mid table finish which is now viewed as a chunk of the fan base as a real achievement that should keep Arteta in a job.
Arteta has a disgusting ego.. He can’t learn.
Lol. Its one game in mate.
No its been 18+ months of ridiculous decision making.
Arteta has lowered the level to where finishing 6th will be deemed an acceptable improvement. He’ll literally get credit if it happened although he’s a major reason the bar has been lowered. He’ll benefit from his failings. We’re living in a world of utter stupidity
And in the lyrics sung by the lovely late Karen Carpenter….
🎵”We’ve only just begun…”🎵
We’re 1 game in.
And 20 months into our head coach’s tenure with little signs of improvement. Under Arteta, we’ve spent more matchdays at or below 15th place than we have in a top 6 spot.
Now there’s a stat that says it all.
Never mind this ‘2nd half of last season’ bollocks.
this attitude is why we are in the position we are in. ‘im fine, im fine”..
No mate – your attitude is why we are in the position we are in. “Twenty seconds gone, and we’re not 2-0 up yet – BOOOOOOOOOO – get the banners out.”
There were no fans last season. I expect us to put up a fight against Brentford.
Are you happy with the current situation?
What do you think can be done?
* Silence……
But the name of our manager during this era of empty stadiums hasn’t been Arsene Wenger. When it was, the toxic atmosphere from impatient supporters led to us having the manager we have now.
The solution, if possible, is to bring back the great man, and for supporters who got so badly wrong to shut up now.
*The worst season ever SO FAR
Since when?
I don’t disagree with u but how did u feel after our 8-2 humiliation against the shite up north. Wenger brought us andre santos, talk of underwhelming!
We finished third that season, mate. If you really want to bring perspective – and nothing wrong if you do – then ask how one felt in the years just before Arsene Wenger took over, when we finished tenth and twelfth with a team full of pissheads and cokeheads.
It’s funny, but before Wenger took over, those “pissheads and cokeheads” had won the League Cup in 1987, the League Title in 1989 and 1991, the FA Cup in 1993, the League Cup in 1993 and the European Cup Winners Cup in 1994.
They were winners on the pitch, regardless of what went on in their private lives.
They would have been greater winners if they had any dedication to their sport and made the required sacrifices. Youth and natural talent only last so long and go so far. WE should have been the ones dominating the early years of the Premier League after winning the title with the nearly invincibles in 91. Instead, Manchester United dominated, whilst our players watched from the pub. It really frustrates me how we have allocated legendary status to our former players. Remember: Actual Invincibles who don’t bad mouth current players and managers in public >> nearly invincibles, who cared more about… Read more »
Well, until next season, anyway.
The club is already three quarters of the way down the toilet, salvaging it is going to take an incredible amount of work or luck.
Since when?
Wow… Looks like we don’t like to move on. Idiotic decision.
No club in world football was willing to pay more than 12 million for a 28 year old in his prime. We then give a new contract and we are all meant to believe he is good enough. We are an embarrassment. I feel sick witnessing this happening to the club I started supporting and fell in love with in 1970..
Twelve million in currency of any denomination should have been enough to shift Xhaka. His removal is the necessary condition to any sustainable improvement in performance.
“The Xhaka Years”.
Disinformation much? He wasn’t given a new contract. I understand frustrations with the player but let’s recount accurate in4 please
Depressing.
Ffs…
What a signing 👏🏻 . Will certainly give us a new lease of life in the middle of the park SAID NOBODY EVER.
We will all certainly get a new lease of life after death. I believe we will all die from wounds from pulled out hair and dug out eyes.
I’m glad we’ve gotten a very versatile player who can play CM, RB, GK, and CF.
Definitely the signing of the season.
Great idea. He plays great football. Love watching him
They guy is so slow. I mean come on
Looks like Xhaka’s strong performance during the Euros did indeed attract a buyer: Arsenal FC!
Would rather he had gone and we signed an upgrade but I will still support him.
He is one of our most dependable players really, always fit, he tries harder than most. I just hope this means we are spending some money on other positions. Odegard, RB, GK, Striker in. Auba or Lacca, Willian, Bellerin, Kolasanic, Nketiah out
You can always depend on him for mediocrity
I’m not totally against this..he had a decent season compared to many others, but the fact we were willing to sell him a week or so ago and now signs a new contract shows we have absolutely no plan whatsoever. We are an absolute shambles of a club from top to bottom. Arteta and Edu seem clueless and let’s not even start with the owners. One surprise club always gets sucked into a relegation fight and this year it will be us. We have to many players that will not fight for the club add that to a niave manager… Read more »
We might get to witness the first testimonial where the player gets booed. Long term vision by the club.
Its not even all Xhaka’s fault. Who is making decisions at this club? How can you be so wrong consistently?
You lived up to your name, I laughed at that one. Then stopped when I realised that it might be a reality.
Hopefully the fans attending will be classier than that.
Nope. Somebody will buy a fucking airplane banner, something like “Xhaka GONE! Good Ridance, moran!”
Is that the Moran’s from Achill or Crossmilina?
We’re going nowhere until at least 2024 then.
With option of an extra year…..
We can only hope Lokonga lives upto expectations and Partey stays fit. Then Xhaka can be kept as backup! Would have wished we took the 12 million and bought another promising player though! Hopefully next summer.
Well that has really improved my mood from Friday. Absolute shambles at the moment.
It is what it is.
Congratulations Xhaka.
As an Arsenal fan, I wish you all the best.
As an Arsenal fan, I wish he were playing for a different club.
Whatever your thoughts regarding Xhaka as an Arsenal player and his abilities.. this decision makes no sense whatsoever. Having successfully competed in the Euros the only other Club in Europe with a desire to buy him ( for much less than his market value) was Roma.This being the case there is absolutely no need to protect him as an Arsenal player and tie him to an extended contract.If no other Club wants to buy him at this point in his career then it goes without saying that this would still be the case in one,two,three or four years time. On… Read more »
We could have sold Xhaka for 12-15M, let Partey and Lokonga start with plenty of bench options, and used that money elsewhere.
But instead we’re going to keep him to a point where he has zero resale value, and might be blocking a better player in Sambi for the majority of his contract.
This is madness.
I hope he is behind Sambi and Partey in the lineup. Another signing to replace Elneny spot will be even better, making Xhaka the 4th choice.
You hope but your mind knows that it won’t happen….right?
Yes. Even a 10-15M midfield signing can be exciting. 2 AM 2 CM. Complete midfield overhaul can be possible in 60M. One single player for 50-60M never seems to justify being value for money in contribution added.
Fuck you Edu, fuck you, Kroenkes, fuck you Arteta, fuck fuck fuck this shit!
That’s a lot of fucking
Useful staff
The worst thing that could of happend with arsenal and xhaka….
This will 100% bite us in the arse
We deserve relegation.
Seriously. I bet Pepe and Leno get “ill” next
Well, at least this time you’re saying we deserve relegation, rather than you hope we get relegated.
Progress.
Our trajectory is oneway
I was hoping that we would go different direction, although one positive thing with Xhaka is that he is never injured and always available. I don’t have massive problem with him being squad option, if we add someone like Guimaraes or Palhinha and ship Elneny, then we wouldn’t be so reliant on Xhaka and in some games he would play, in some games other option would play instead and that would create bigger competition with more quality options. Btw Thomas’ injuries are starting to worry me, hopefully this current one is the last one in long time.
Mate, imagine this “yo, granit, we gon give you a pay raise and longer contract in order for you not to push a move elsewhere, however, you gon play a second fiddle to a possible new signing, sound good to you?” Him staying means he’s projected as an automatic starter 95% of the time. We might sign a kid for cover, but that would probably be it. Only chance for him to drop out is if lokonga plays his socks of and show immersive quality, but that even won’t do it. Arteta only let ESR play when season was fucked… Read more »
Yeah you could still give him a contract and I don’t see nothing wrong with adding and having more quality options especially in crucial midfield positions where injuries have screwed us previously. I don’t see Xhaka as some kind of special player that should have guaranted place in the team. Then if he is not happy with how he is being used he can go to another club in future transfer windows. But I see what you mean.
To be fair, it’s it’s not like when they gave Aubameyang a new deal they had a plan for how to use him.
Fingers crossed!
He can’t be injured because he walks around the field all game. Players get injured by fighting for balls and making blocks
I’m not saying that Xhaka is the biggest problem of our club, but if he is not the epitome of our downfall to mediocrity and beyond, I don’t know what is. Good luck to us all!
True, we have been in a downward spiral since he set foot at Colney
For some reason there are bleeding hearts on here that just cant admit it. What and who has been the common denominator in the side since 2016. In Wengers last few years we started playing slow crab football…It got even worse under Emery and now Arteta is playing Horseshoe football. Which player has been the mainstay and heartbeat under all three managers.
The common denominator has been AFTV, and supporters of their mentality and intelligence, that have lowered the standards of our fanbase in recent years.
Absolutely mental, this club is a joke. This guy has been a constant in a very average Arsenal midfield, we try to offload him and can’t so instead we extend his contract until he’s 32 possibly 33. Who sanctions this crap? This is a perfect example of why we are dropping down the league year after year. I seriously see us being very average at best for YEARS. Can you imagine us in the champions league? We can’t even beat Brentford. Sad days to be an Arsenal fan 😢
This football club really is becoming the stuff of nightmares.
Make it stop. 😩
Bad decision, should have just let him go for free if no one wanted to buy him – yet another player we will be stuck paying their wages because no fucker else thinks he’s worth it
This seems a very strange move given that no one seems too interested in taking him off our hands. Why bother?
It seems a difficult balancing act of getting the most out of an asset you want to sell but cannot! At the beginning of his tenure I was excited by how Arteta seemed to extract performances out of players many fans had given up on. Xhaka, Mustafi, AMN, Eleny etc all made contributions to Arteta’s 1st season, which ended in an FA Cup. Now even a very strong Xhaka showing in the Euro can’t quiet the doubt that he would for whatever reason revert to his “club” form. 🙁 I’m just hoping that we are still looking to move him… Read more »
He is an OK player, don’t get me wrong, I think he get’s an unfair treatment as if everything wrong is his fault, but he is nothing more than OK, and to beat top 4 teams we need more than that.
If (big if) he is happy as a backup player I would be really glad he signed, we wouldnt be able to find a DM of his quality for 15m anyway. Sell Elneny for anything anyone offers, buy a decent CM and let Xhaka and Lokonga be our backups. oh god I have to stop dreaming
Sambi was literally signed for £15.75m. As long as he commits less errors and remains durable, he’s already on par with Xhaka’s level of quality.
John McGinn was purchased for £2.6m. Hojlberg – £14.9m. Diallo – £10.80m, Bissouma – £15.2m, Soucek – £14.5m, Douglas Luiz – £15.1m. Heck why not take advantage of Valencia’s financial issues and get Carlos Soler for below his market value like we did with Santi from Malaga.
There are definitely cheap deals possible out there, the club just doesn’t appear to be serious about replacing Xhaka.
Top 4 is our of reach. I would be happy if he was a top 8 quality. But he is not. Compare him with Rice, Tielmans, Phillips etc
The photo of Xhaka used for this article is just about right. I bet he’d be shock himself just as we all are.. like Arsenal, for real? Later on we’ll be looking for ways to offload him like Auba and Laca eh? Edu and Arteta are the WORST
I don’t want to spoil the party, but WTF?
Is this what Arsenal became?
LANS
Not good enough to start. Happy to have him as a squad player, though.
I think he was excellent at the euros but at home most of our players are underperforming.
That would suggest that the problem is not Xhaka; the problem is Arsenal, or more precisely, Arsenal fans. The Swiss supporters don’t abuse and demoralize their players like our fans do to our players. Even at 3-1 down to France with a couple of minutes to go, they didn’t turn on the team; they continued supporting them. If we go 3-1 down to Chelsea on Sunday, do you think our supporters will do the same?
Are you forgetting that the away supporters cheered the Arsenal team until the final whistle whilst we were getting battered 8-2 at Old Trafford. They also tried their best to keep the team going in Baku until the scoreline read 3-0 then there was silence. Sometimes being charged the most money to support a team not even half as determined as you loses its novelty. Imagine that… The booing incidents don’t make us any different from any other fanbase. Chelsea fans have booed Hazard during the 15/16 season they finished 10th, Jorginho in 19/20 and booed Benitez every game he… Read more »
You trying to teach me about perspective is like Jodie Marsh trying to teach a nun about celibacy. I wasn’t at those two games you mentioned, but I don’t believe you that the fans were supportive there. I did, however, go to the Swansea game in 2016 – a game we would have won (in the end), but at 1-1 with plenty of time to go, the impatient fans turned the atmosphere so toxic, that we lost instead. I was also at the Norwich game that same season, which we just about won, despite the fans protesting for ninety minutes… Read more »
Okay fine you win. Arsenal fans are the absolute worst. Kroenke should charge us £5000 per season ticket just for the privilege. He’s already doing us a favour for just letting us breathe inside the Emirates. We were so impatient for tolerating a decade of austerity and only 2 title challenges in 18 years. My god, what are an entitled bunch we are. Some of us were so entitled for voicing complaints through slogans, boos and fly-over banners. Even though fans of clubs currently above us had done exactly the same years before. It was our fault the team didn’t… Read more »
Excellent move. Xhaka is a very reliable team player that gives everything on the pitch. He is not injury prone and he has leadership qualities that are very lacking. While the current team is not good enough to challenge for top 4, selling Xhaka weakens it further. We need to strengthen elsewhere before worrying about him. We need a keeper, a RB, a 10 and a reliable 20+ goals striker.
All the teams above us are arguably where they are because they have better functioning midfielders.
We had a reliable 20+ goals a season striker before we consolidated our style of crab football and started giving him about three chances each month.
You lost me at ‘excellent move’.
Sober up mate.
Sigggh. When did central midfield start getting so overlooked. Why do you think we play horseshoe shape football and play backwards all the time.
Dude, stay clean, it’s not worth it.
One down, two to go – Bellerin and Kolasinac.
If we are going to play pass to Tierney and hope, lets go full Emery and play pass to Kolasinac and hope.
I still think he’ll leave next summer and wouldn’t be surprised if there’s a gentleman’s agreement to that fact.
This extension will hold his current his value, and in 12 months time clubs around Europe should be in a financially healthier position where clubs in Italy or Germany will be able to afford his market value.
Yeah this exactly. If we’d got a decent offer he would’ve gone to Roma this summer so clearly he’s expendable. But we didn’t, so he’s staying. If we’re going to sell him next summer he’ll have a much higher value with this extension.
I’m kind of surprised at the people losing their minds that we’ve done it, the alternative is don’t extend and sell him for peanuts next year or lose him on a free the year after.
The same Roma that have just splashed out almost £40m on a Chelsea bench player? Cool.
Do you really believe that Directors of Football all around Europe are licking their lips thinking about when they’re able to afford to pay £20 million for Granit Xhaka?
Maybe that money would be better spent on younger, cheaper, better players with sell-on value, which are actually not that hard to find – unless you spend the entire transfer window sipping cocktails on superyachts.
I don’t enjoy watching Granit Xhaka play football.
This is unfortunate.
Nothing wrong this. I’m hoping that Partey and Lokonga will be our first choice by the end of the season, and Xhaka is a very good third choice option, especially at age 28, right in his peak.
Wake me up when 2024 season comes. I’m done with this season already. #KroenkeOut
2023-2024 or 24-25?
24-25 thanks
Absolutely shocking and hard to fathom. Let him wind it down if nobody wants him and if he went on a free so be it. As it is we are now cursed with his presence for fuck knows how long! No other player has made more mistakes leading directly to goals in the entire league since he joined us. Shambles era personified and epitomised by him.
I’m no Xhaka fan, but this is the only rational choice in this market. Worth a lot more than 10m to us, and letting contract run down to 1 yr would be foolish.
I’ve never been one to jump on the Arteta out bandwagon, especially as there are other factors involved such as pathetic owners BUT making him captain against Brentford and then extending the contract of such an average player, a player that most of us Gooners don’t like (mainly because he is just so average and will never help us advance), shows just how out of his depth he is.