Granit Xhaka has been accused of accepting ‘relegation in terms of sport’ by leaving Arsenal for Bayer Leverkusen.
That’s the opinion of journalist Christian Finkbeiner, who has criticised the Switzerland midfielder in his column for Blick today.
He writes that while Xhaka’s move to Leverkusen, which was confirmed yesterday, is understandable in terms of personal reasons it is a relegation in playing terms and ‘doesn’t fit the character’ the player has shown.
According to him Xhaka has so far ‘accepted every challenge’ put in front of him, including the one at Arsenal where he has been instrumental in getting them back on top under Mikel Arteta, and won the fans over after his famous falling out with them in 2019.
After almost 300 games at the club, he has ‘resigned as a club legend with a standing ovation’ but Finkbeiner can’t see the logic in his transfer.
He argues that at 30-years-old with another year on his contract at Arsenal, there was little reason to leave, and the impending arrival of Declan Rice was only another challenge to overcome.
Instead of facing that challenge at the Emirates he’s swapped it for comfort at Leverkusen, leaving the Premier League for the Bundesliga and the Champions League for the Europa League.
He’s also moving to a club that doesn’t stir up the ‘great emotions’ as far as the fans are concerned, with that honour going to Koln and Mönchengladbach in the Rhineland instead. According to him, Leverkusen are just a club ‘subsidised by the pharmaceutical company.’
All in all, he sees the move from Arsenal as a ‘step back into the comfort zone’ that’s seen Xhaka take a big multi-year contract with little challenge all for the sake of his wife wanting to return to Germany. That’s something he doesn’t believe is ‘Xhaka-like’ at all.
