Granit Xhaka insists he is ready to retake Arsenal's captain armband as Mikel Arteta prepares to name his new skipper.
The Spaniard has yet to name Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's successor after he was stripped of the captaincy before his exit to Barcelona. Alexandre Lacazette has been wearing the armband in the interim, until recently, but is unlikely to receive it on a permanent basis with the striker set to leave as a free agent in the summer.
Kieran Tierney and Martin Odegaard have been tipped to be Arsenal's next captain, but Arteta has yet to make a final decision on the matter. And Xhaka, who has previously been stripped of the armband, reveals he would be willing to take it if he was called upon as his revival at the Emirates continues.
That prospect seemed unthinkable when he appeared to swear at the Emirates crowd when he was booed off after being substituted midway through a game in October 2019 against Crystal Palace. The 29-year-old lost the captaincy after the incident and admitted he was on the brink of leaving Arsenal as he was linked with a move to Roma, but Arteta convinced him to stay and he has now emerged as one of the players in the Gunners' leadership group - having a positive impact on and off the pitch.
"I will never say never," he told Sky Sports when asked about the Arsenal captaincy. "I was not ready for that again. A captain of Arsenal can be without an armband and I am trying to lead the game and the players without the armband, but if tomorrow someone from the football club comes and asks if I want to take it I will be here because I know I am ready again to do it."
Xhaka faced intense scrutiny to reach this point however and reckons his interview for The Player's Tribune where he opened up about the levels of hatred he endured has helped repair his relationship with Arsenal fans. He added: "After this happened people were telling me this is not hate but for me this was absolutely hate. I know what hate is and I know what is love and what is between this. This was not in between, it was not love. it was hate.
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"I have had very positive feedback from the fans and from social media and I was very proud of myself. You don't get a lot of players talking about this, being very open, they are scared for the future.
"For me, it was the perfect time. You still have people that say you won't change our opinion but that is fine, the most important thing is how I feel and that is very good."
