Ian Wright believes Arsenal are now seeing "the best of Granit Xhaka" as he lauded the Arsenal midfielder.
The Swiss star has often performed impressively for his country, but fails to produce those levels in north London. Now, with the Gunners flying at the top of the Premier League, Xhaka is excelling in a team flowing with confidence having won six of their seven games.
Xhaka, who has previously been linked with moves away from the Emirates, is playing in a midfield two but with the license to roam. Arsenal's impressive performances have also allowed him to play on the front foot and his vision was on show as he laid on Gabriel Jesus excellently in the recent win over Brentford.
Wright said on BBC’s Match of the Day : "For me, Granit Xhaka is a player that we’re finally see play like he does for Switzerland. He’s playing in a position that suits him, playing more offensively. He’s playing with real authority and confidence.
"Lately he’s been able to find space and from there he can be really dangerous because, for me, he’s got easily one of the best left-foots in the Premier League. It’s a great cross for the Jesus goal, it’s fantastic. He can also do the defensive stuff, he gets back and get his foot in there.
"He set the tempo for Arsenal off the ball. I’m really pleased for him because I was one of his staunchest critics. But now we’re seeing the best of Granit Xhaka."
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The 29-year-old has endured a mixed time in the capital having joined in the summer of 2016 as the club's marquee signing. He was handed the armband under Unai Emery, but his leadership tenure was short lived as he was stripped off the captaincy after clashing with the fans in a home match.
Xhaka has since rebuilt his relationship with the Arsenal faithful, who sang the midfielder's name on Sunday. Chants of “We’ve got Granit Xhaka, we’ve got Granit Xhaka. We’ve got Granit Xhaka, we’ve got Granit Xhaka...” rang out from the away end in west London.
The player himself took to the club's social media account to thank the fans for the gesture. He said: “It’s a very, very special day for me. To hear what happened, [for you] to sing the song for me. Thank you.” Xhaka has played in all of Arsenal's league games thus far, scoring in the win over Leicester City.
