There was a time, before the transfer window, when Granit Xhaka’s future at Arsenal looked as compromised as it ever could be.
The Switzerland international had just sarcastically clapped the Emirates faithful after being booed off the pitch, and he disappeared from the first team under Unai Emery.
The Spaniard was then sacked and replaced by Mikel Arteta, and the 27-year-old found himself in the first team again almost immediately.
He has rarely been left out ever since.
Xhaka has started all eight games of their current unbeaten run in the Premier League, and he decided to sit down with Keystone SDA, the Swiss national press agency, to discuss how things have changed of late.
He said, relayed by Neue Zürcher Zeitung: “I’m someone who looks ahead and doesn’t ponder the past for long. For me, it’s done. I’m trying to help the team with professionalism and hard work as a leader on the pitch.”
Xhaka did admit they had been ‘three, four really difficult months at Arsenal with a lot of unrest’, but he just wants to move on now, enjoying himself under Arteta, who has proven to be a great mentor for him.
He explained: “We had a very good and long conversation early on in which he made it clear to me how much he relies on me and the important role he had for me in his game. I learn from him ever day, he makes me even better.”
Once heavily linked with Hertha Berlin, that is all behind him now, and it appears both Arsenal and Xhaka have now completely moved on.
