They disrespected me,They wanted to get ride of me before Arteta came’: former Arsenal Star Granit Xhaka reveals the only issue He had with Arsenal board before He parted ways with them last summer
Granit Xhaka has revealed that Arsenal showed him ‘little respect’ and wanted to get rid of him before Mikel Arteta arrived at the club.
The Swiss international’s time at the Emirates was a tumultuous one. He went from being enemy number one to fans singing his name every week before he left the club in the summer. Now, he has opened up on what happened before Arteta became the Arsenal manager.
Granit Xhaka says Arsenal showed him little respect before Mikel Arteta arrived
Granit Xhaka left Arsenal and joined Bayer Leverkusen in the summer for £21.4 million (BBC).
The Swiss international was one of Arsenal’s best players last season. He was outstanding in that number eight role and became a fan favourite at the Emirates.
Things were not always like that for Xhaka. After his outburst against Crystal Palace back in 2019, he was stripped of his captaincy. Half of the fan base turned on him and wanted him out.
Everyone knows how Xhaka turned it around, but the Swiss international has now made a shocking revelation that Arsenal showed him ‘little respect’ during that period and wanted to get rid of him.
However, everything changed once Mikel Arteta arrived in December 2019.
Xhaka told The Athletic: “The club showed me little respect even though I was the captain. It was clear they wanted to get rid of me as quickly as possible, apart from one person: Mikel Arteta.
“When I met him for the first time, my bags were already packed and I was about to hop on a plane. With my heart and soul, I had already left the club. I said to him, ‘The solution is for me to go’. Mikel told me he wanted me to stay. But I wasn’t sure.
“I remember speaking to my dad at the time. He told me, ‘Let’s go’. For the first time ever, he told me to run away. He said there was no future for me at Arsenal. I could not imagine myself playing for Arsenal again. I said to him, ‘I just want to be somewhere where the fans don’t boo me’.
“But he was so convincing. For the first time in my life, I took a decision without talking to my family first. I got up and said, ‘OK, I’ll stay’. We embraced and, from that day on, I returned to training and it was like nothing ever happened.”
Granit Xhaka’s Arsenal story is inspirational
After what happened in that game against Crystal Palace in 2019, if you had told an Arsenal fan that Granit Xhaka would stay until 2023 and leave with fans singing his name, you would’ve been laughed at.
However, the Swiss international did exactly that.
Mikel Arteta gave him the confidence, trust and belief he needed to bring the best out of him, and Xhaka became a hero to many at the club, receiving a warm farewell when he left.
Xhaka is a real inspiration, and Arsenal fans everywhere wish him well even to this day.
