While everyone at Arsenal was busy celebrating Thomas Partey’s arrival from Atlético Madrid in the summer, one man who probably wasn’t was Granit Xhaka.
The Switzerland midfielder has revived his Arsenal career since Mikel Arteta arrived, having basically had one foot out the door beforehand.
Partey’s arrival has only helped to push him down the pecking order, though, with the midfielder an expensive signing that is expected to be the first choice in Arteta’s midfield moving forward.
That is yet to truly come to fruition, with Xhaka starting five of Arsenal’s eight Premier League games so far as well as two of their three Europa League games, one of their EFL Cup games and the Community Shield win over Liverpool.
Things have started to change recently, though, with Xhaka finding himself an unused substitute in the games against Manchester United and Aston Villa.
And that is cause for concern as far as Blick are concerned. They cover the midfielder’s situation today and say Switzerland coach Vladimir Petković has some work to do on him.
They say the Switzerland coach is ‘in demand as a psychologist’ during this international break, when they will take on Belgium, Spain and Ukraine, and Xhaka is one of his ‘most urgent cases’.
They describe the Arsenal man as a ‘hard nut to crack’ but the latest development at the club, his benching in the last two games, ‘will give him food for thought’.
The reason? The Gunners purchase of Partey for one, as well as the impressive performances from Mohamed Elneny alongside him.
The Egyptian has earned glowing reviews in recent weeks and, for the moment at least, it appears Arteta would prefer him alongside Partey in defensive midfield.
That’s obviously bad news for Xhaka, who will be pondering the situation during the international break with Switzerland.
That is where ‘Dr. Petkovic’ comes in, with Blick basically saying he needs to give Xhaka’s ego – and his confidence – a bit of a massage as things are starting to look a little difficult at Arsenal again.
