Mikel Arteta has paid tribute to the “crucial” influence of Granit Xhaka on his Arsenal side before what is expected to be the midfielder’s final game for the club. Xhaka is likely to join Bayer Leverkusen early in the summer transfer window and his rehabilitation from outcast to mainstay has been a major success of Arteta’s tenure.
It is well documented that, when Arteta took over in December 2019, Xhaka was on the verge of leaving after a high-profile falling-out with the Emirates support that meant he was dropped and stripped of the captaincy by Unai Emery. The turnaround has been remarkable and the Switzerland international has played with particular freedom this season, often operating in a more advanced role for the Premier League runners-up. Arteta hailed his value to the team and said Arsenal had learned from the controversy of three and a half years ago.
“For me, crucial,” he said when asked about Xhaka’s importance. “Really, really important on every level, for the team and for the club as well. In the great moments like the season he has had, and in the difficult ones.
“We have become a better club and better people and we have understood certain situations much better than just judging them. The club and a lot of people have done really well to dig in there and understand what happened emotionally and why those reactions were happening. And having the courage to say: ‘OK, let’s turn around the situation and face it.’ There are going to be moments of doubt but if you believe in what you are doing and you go face-to-face and say what you feel, normally things work out pretty well.”
Assuming Xhaka plays against Wolves on Sunday it will be his 297th appearance since joining from Borussia Mönchengladbach in 2016. Arsenal have little to play for bar a winning end to a season that promised a title challenge until the final fortnight. Arteta said the campaign had been “physically demanding” and predicted 2023-24 would be even tougher.
“The teams are getting better,” he said. “[There is] better culture, better infrastructure, you sense the level of competition, you sense how the clubs are trying to gain absolutely everything that they can to be better than their opponent. And it’s not going to get any easier.”
Asked to sum up, in one word, a season that has transformed expectations around the club, he said: “Probably connection. That’s how I would do it. The team has connected, the club has connected, the departments at the club have connected, the crowd has connected with the team, with the club, with the ownership, with the rest of the world.”
Bukayo Saka, who signed a new contract on Tuesday, is doubtful but will hope not to breach his unbroken season of top-flight appearances. Reiss Nelson has also been struggling with illness this week.
