The first game of the pre-season preparations for Arsenal in France this evening comes too soon for us fans to get a first look at our summer signing Granit Xhaka after his involvement with the Switzerland national side at Euro 2016. We saw enough at the tournament, however, to suggest that Arsene Wenger has got the Gunners a great player and the boss has been speaking to Arsenal Player this week about what he thinks the new man will bring to Arsenal.
With the Arsenal fans starting to become frustrated by the lack of major signings since the Xhaka transfer, Wenger is perhaps trying to tell us that the Swiss star will have a major impact at the heart of our midfield and will add the quality and attributes that will give the Gunners a great chance to challenge for the Premier League and other trophies.
He said, “[Xhaka brings] his passing ability to play through the lines from deep positions, his work rate, and he’s good in the air.
“He’s a young boy as well, 23 years old. There’s a lot to come from him. We lost three midfielders: Flamini, Rosicky and Arteta, and numbers-wise we are quite solid in midfield now.
“Elneny had a big impact when he came here, Coquelin was injured for a long time and is back. Cazorla will come back, Wilshere is back… so we are solid in midfield.”
I do think that Wenger is right about us having enough strength and depth to our midfield, but I am not so confident about our defensive strength and out attacking options, so even if Xhaka turns out to be as good as we all hope, is that really enough to make Arsenal champions?
Bob.