After seven rollercoaster years in north London, Granit Xhaka's time at Arsenal looks to be coming to an end.
Xhaka, 30, is set to leave the Gunners at the end of the season with Bayer Leverkusen amongst the number of teams interested in signing the experienced Swiss international. The Bundesliga side are willing to pay £13million for Xhaka, who has helped propel Arsenal into title-chasing Premier League team this term.
He has been an ever-present in the Arsenal side during their title push, partnering Thomas Partey as the double pivot in midfield for the vast majority of the campaign. In fact, Xhaka has missed one league game and that was the 3-3 draw against Southampton last month, where the Gunners struggled.
Xhaka has been one of Arsenal's most important players this season, having started in all but three Premier League matches and his impact has been crucial. His rash, tenacious character has calmed down in recent years and he is a lot more composed, both on and off the ball, making him a top-class all-round midfielder.
However, it hasn't all been positive for Xhaka during his seven-year stint at Arsenal. He arrived from Borussia Mönchengladbach in 2016 for a fee in the region of £30million - days after the Gunners pipped Tottenham into second spot and they were planning to push on further under Arsene Wenger.
Xhaka's first season at the Gunners was a mixed one. He scored his maiden Arsenal goal with a thunderbolt in a 4-1 win at Hull in October 2016, before picking up his first red card a week later. That pretty much summed up Xhaka's debut campaign - a mixture of excellent and dreadful moments as he adjusted to life in England.
But Xhaka would pick up a trophy at the end of it. The ex-Basel midfielder started as Arsenal beat Chelsea 2-1 in the FA Cup final at Wembley to collect his first piece of silverware in England. It capped off a moderately successful season for Wenger, too, as he continued his remarkable record in the world's oldest cup competition.
At the end of the 2017/18 season, Wenger announced he would be stepping down as Arsenal manager after an 22-year spell in north London. Xhaka was a crucial member of Wenger's final Arsenal side as he played in all 38 Premier League matches, while featuring a further 10 times in Europe.
Xhaka struck up a strong relationship with Wenger, with the Frenchman often praising his work-rate and application on and off the field. However, following the appointment of Unai Emery in the summer of 2018, Xhaka never quite adjusted to the Spanish coach's way of playing - despite being named as captain in September 2019.
Exactly a month later Xhaka endured one of the lowest points of his career to date during a home match against Crystal Palace. The Swiss was substituted in the 60th minute, where a large section of Arsenal fans decided to cheer when his name was read out, while he was booed when he walked off the pitch.
He responded by making several sarcastic gestures and angrily saying "f*** off" twice to the Arsenal supporters who were jeering his name. Xhaka also ripped off his shirt before storming down the tunnel in frustration. Xhaka's actions were criticised after the game and Emery described it as "wrong".
Arsenal confirmed three days later that Xhaka would be offered counselling and club also released a statement offering the midfielder's explanation of the incident. He was later stripped of the captaincy and it looked almost destined that he was going to leave the Gunners for pastures new in January.
However, Emery was sacked in December and replaced by Mikel Arteta. The ex-Gunners midfielder managed to convince Xhaka to stay and reintroduced him to the side. He slowly began to win back the fans' support and played an important role in Arsenal's FA Cup success as they beat Chelsea in 2020.
Speaking about the time Arteta saved his Arsenal career, Xhaka told the BBC last summer: "He (Arteta) is the reason why I'm still at this football club. All of the club knows why I am still here, because three years ago I was gone.
"My suitcases were packed and finished, but I had a meeting with Mikel when he came. He wanted to hear my opinion about what had happened and I explained to him. I remember it exactly. I told him, 'It has nothing to do with you', because I didn’t know him and I never played with him. Obviously I knew his name, but not the person and I said, 'I'm gone, I can't wear the shirt any more'."
"He said, 'Give me a chance for six months and if you are still not happy after six months, I'm the guy who will help you, not to run away, but you can leave'. I didn't speak with family, with nobody, and normally I don’t do that. But I said, ‘OK Mikel, I will stay for you’, and I’m still here."
Xhaka has since become one of Arteta's most influential players in the middle of the park and he played a huge role in the Gunners finishing fifth-place last season - a massive improvement on the previous campaign. But he has taken his game to a new level during the 2022/23 season and it has been arguably the best season of his career.
This is despite him almost guaranteed not to win a trophy at the end of it, but Arsenal's progress and his performances on the field have been exceptional. Xhaka has also recorded the best goalscoring season of his career, having chipped in with seven in 45 appearances across all competitions.
His final game in an Arsenal shirt is likely to be their last home game of the season clash against Wolves at the Emirates - and it is safe to say Xhaka will get a rousing reception from the Gunners faithful. He has clocked 285 appearances for the Gunners so far and will go down as a real cult hero.
