MOLDE, NORWAY - NOVEMBER 26: Granit Xhaka of Arsenal during the UEFA Europa League Group B stage match between Molde FK and Arsenal FC at Molde Stadion on November 26, 2020 in Molde, Norway. Photo by Erik Birkeland/MB Media SPO, SOC, FOC PUBLICATIONxINxGERxSUIxAUTxONLY Copyright: xErikxBirkeland/MBxMediax
According to Eurosport (h/t Football.london), Arsenal are ready to offload Granit Xhaka. His future has been up for debate despite the good form shown by him under Mikel Arteta. Arsenal are likely to let him go if a suitable offer is received. The midfielder was the subject of interest for Inter Milan earlier.
Granit Xhaka is a youth product of the famed Basel academy, joining their setup in 2002, He spent 3 years in the youth team before being promoted to the U-15s. Over the next five seasons, he kept receiving successive promotions and was finally moved up to the senior side.
He played a total of 67 times for Basel, scoring thrice and assisting 7. After two seasons, he left for Germany and joined Borussia Monchengladbach. During his time there, he came to be one of the best tough-tackling midfielders in Germany. In 140 appearances for them, he scored 9 goals and assisted 8.
Arsenal came calling in 2016 and Xhaka became an integral part of the team. The player has had a mixed stint so far at the London club with his rash nature of tackling often getting him into trouble. Nonetheless, he has managed to rack up 190 games for them. A veteran of the Swiss national side, Xhaka has 85 caps and 12 goals to his name.
While Xhaka comes with his range of skill, they are just not up to the mark anymore. He has always been a case of decent but not good enough. There has always been a ridiculous level of inconsistency in his performances over the season. One season he is indispensable to the manager and in the other, he’ll give you no choice but to bench him.
With the arrival of Thomas Partey, the defensive midfield position is now set. The former Atletico man has settled in well at the club and even though there have been some injury problems, it is quite clear that he is going to remain the first choice. Then there remains the case of Mohamed Elneny.
The Egyptian was brought back from the cold and is now an integral part of the team. That really does not leave Xhaka with a whole lot of options. He has featured in defence this season on a few occasions but with most of the injured players slowly returning, the Swiss will be running out of places to play in.
With the club struggling to find creativity, they could well return to pursue Houssem Aouar. However, funds are in short supply and that would mean they have to sell players. Despite regaining his form under Arteta, the £100,000-a-week Xhaka should be allowed to move on to generate funds for reinvestment in creative players.