Signed early on in the summer and labelled by some as the saviour of Arsenal’s midfield troubles, Granit Xhaka hasn’t, a few impressive goals aside, exactly set the league alight.
Known to be a tough tackler, the 24-year-old midfielder has managed to pick up two red cards already this season, with the second one, coming against Burnley in the 65th minute in the opposition half, earning him a ban that saw him miss three league games.
Heavily criticised following the incident, the player hit back at former players turned pundits ‘who don’t know anything about who I am’ in an interview with La Tribune de Genève, explaining he was hurt that they attacked him by making him look like a ‘mean and brainless idiot’.
Opening up about it, Xhaka said: “My second sending off really disturbed me. I was in a good spell, with 13 or 14 games as a starter on the trot, I was in a rhythm. I was then scared for my spot. I doubted myself.”
Revealing ‘barricading himself nearly completely’ during the first three days of his ban, the player rang his former managers Lucien Favre and André Schubert for help, as he started to fear for his career.
He explained: “You see, a sending off like that one, can, depending on the circumstances, change a player’s career. The manager could have easily told me I was a deadweight on their road to success. He could have rid himself of me!”
Thankfully for Xhaka, after two weeks training away from the group with the fitness coach, Wenger came up to him and told him straight away he would be playing in the next game, a 5-1 loss against Bayern Munich.
Now back in the team, and a stalwart for his country, the Switzerland international only has one aim in mind: “To become a key player in one of the ten best clubs in the world, and becoming a leader there”.
