Former Arsenal midfielder Granit Xhaka has praised his former manager Mikel Arteta after sealing a move to Bayer Leverkusen in this transfer window.
Xhaka almost left the club at the start of 2020, but Arteta convinced him to stay and they both achieved success at the Emirates.
The club replaced him with Declan Rice and Kai Havertz in this transfer window and allowed him to leave for Germany.
At Bayer, he will work with another very young Spanish coach, former Liverpool midfielder Xabi Alonso.
Xhaka knows how good he has it and has now compared both managers. He tells Marca:
‘I spent seven magnificent years at Arsenal, I didn’t want to play against them. It wasn’t easy for me to leave or for the club to let me go.
‘I felt love and respect from Edu and Arteta, but I wanted to face a new challenge at Bayer Leverkusen.’
Adding: ‘They have a very similar philosophy.
‘Mikel is incredible, not only as a coach, and I think Xabi is on the same line.
‘They both see football very differently than other coaches I’ve had.’
Just Arsenal Opinion
Xhaka is one of the luckiest players that will play under two young managers with fresh ideas about how the game should be played.
The midfielder had a good spell with us, but this summer was the perfect time for him to leave the club so we rebuild.
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