According to Football.London, Mikel Arteta has refused to rule out the possibility of Granit Xhaka captaining Arsenal again in the future, despite the fact that the Swiss star was stripped of the responsibility earlier in the season.
The football world was taken back at the end of October after Xhaka’s furious outburst towards some Arsenal fans during our draw against Crystal Palace.
As well as being stripped of the armband, Xhaka’s heated actions ultimately led to him being exiled from the team for a month.
The 27-year-old has found his way back into the team more recently, and his brilliant performance against rivals Manchester United could hint that he’s found a new lease of life under Arteta.
Read More: How Arsenal can end the season successfully without signing new players…
Here’s what Arteta had to say when quizzed about Xhaka wearing the armband in the future:
“I don’t know, time will tell that. Now he’s happy to stay here, he’s completely committed and that’s a big plus today.”
Arteta’s comments on Xhaka also seem to confirm that the midfielder won’t be leaving the Gunners during the January transfer window.
If Xhaka can turn in some good performances for the remainder of the season, do you think that he has the chance to win back the fans?
With Arteta’s recent praise of Xhaka, it seems like the entire saga surrounding the Swiss star has finally closed, the ace can now focus on his football.
If Auba leaves in the summer and xhaka keeps up the kind of performance he displayed against chelsea and united, he should be re-instated but without Auba leaving, I think taking the arm band from him will create a divided dressing room among the players
Agree
His performance has improved because of Arteta’s system
FFS-how can YOU agree with that comment when it’s most obviously incorrect. Xhaka didn’t play against Chelsea.
Cant you ever get anything correct PAL
Mistake, meant to write bournemouth and united
Definitely not, should not have been captain in the first place. Hopefully he will be gone in the summer anyway.
Irrespective of his performances?
Don’t mention the armband, this guy is not supposed to be Arsenal as we speak. He’s mistake prone. He just plays one good game, then fans says it’s improvement. Arsenal fans are indoctrinated with Xhaka and Ozil. It used to be Giroud and Ramsey
Arteta said he’s giving everyone a clean slate regardless of what has happened in the past, if xhaka can keep up with the performance against united, I back him to stay at the club 100%, the coach believes in him, lets get behind him and see if he can step up, if he doesn’t then he should be on his way out in the summer, personally im not judging him based on his performance against united, his errors cost us UCL football this season, this is new manager, a new era lets just sit back and observe
I agree wholeheartedly, no way should he be Arsenal Captain and should never have been installed as the captain by Emery.
Xhaka is not captain material
It depends on who we may sign in the future, who knows we may sign a perfect leader either this window or in the summer but I’m with whom ever it is, as long as they just there gut for the team.
I agree with you
Yes. Xhaka should be captain again . He shows more passion and motivation than Aubameyang who seems too light- hearted and may well leave the club soon.
Unai – is that you?
Not at the expense of Auba, he shouldn’t. I cannot see Mikel making a completely daft decision like that. However, if Auba is not playing and there is not a suitable senior player to wear the armband, why not? Have we forgotten to forgive? His pwrformance against ManUtd shows that there is a place for him in the team.
I don’t think he should be captain again, at least not in the near future.
But I think, it is time we got behind him more.
It is now 4 managers, that want to have him in the team, so maybe we should admit, that the managers probably know more about his value to the team than we fans do.
That is what i was saying from the beginning,there has to be something that managers see in him otherwise he wont be picked
I think it’s more to do with the fact we currently have no one in the squad to take his place.
Absolutely no chance! He shouldn’t even be in the squad! Hertha Berlin is his level!
at best …this joker has enjoyed more comebacks than the guy from halloween though tbh from a footballing point of view he is even scarier .. pound for pound the worst footballer arsenal have ever signed and whatever improvements people have detected with their high-powered football microscopes there has not been one game yet under arteta where we have controlled the midfield just more energy level and torreira coming good in his natural position … the sooner xhaka is out the sooner we move on …
No way, he had his chance and he made it clear what he thought about Arsenal fans, he simply isn’t good enough and two games and all of a sudden the fickle Arsenal fans are changing their minds, some of our fans haven’t got a clue on what they want, and it’s them who follow the negative AFTV and applaud the toxic so called money grabbing fans on that channel
AFTV isn’t negative, that’s just media BS! When you talk of toxicity, isn’t it best to criticize the cause, not the effect? The cause of the toxic atmosphere was Kroenke, Wenger, and Gazidis. Should we blame the fans for consistently pumping their hard earned money into a sinking ship?
NO!
Le Coq, we already seem to have forgotten UE in this toxicity blame game.
Perhaps that’s because it took some on here nearly sixteen of the eighteen months to realize he hadn’t got a clue and hide behind the usual names to cover their own BS opinions.
As for xhaka, I’ll support whatever the coach decides, after all its only taken him three weeks to undo the toxic, relegation threatened, full blown player revolt, “frightened to play Watford” players he inherited from UE…so sorry that AFTV, kronkie, wenger and gazidis had no input into that situation, but who cares in the blame game as long as it’s Wenger?
This is one of those times when I don’t have to read the replies as I know almost everyone’s feelings on Man like Granit.
I don’t think Arteta should consider Xhaka for a number of reasons. For one – It wouldn’t be fair on the player as he already has a tall order in changing people’s feelings about him. Just let him try to do his best as quietly as he can. He is already one of the more experienced players in this team, he done against Utd what nobody tried to do v Che, he stopped us from dropping back too much in the last quarter of those 90min, he was seen using both arms and urging the players to step forward rather than stepping back.
Another reason I don’t think they should have Xhaka’s name in the hat, is, he was speaking like he was ready to go there a few weeks back, the club never shot it down neither (speculation) and it looked like there would be a parting of ways. You can’t choose someone from a situation like this ..To be the spokesman of the team, it lessens the responsibility, the captains role can-not go to someone with one foot in and one foot out of our club.
The urging of Xhaka was so fake it was unbelievable. Arteta was standing not that far away waving and screaming.
NO. Not in a million years. Captaincy at a club like ours must be rwspwcted by all players at all times.
Noooo he had so many chances. Still don’t get what his extra value is.