Pain in the Arsenal
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Arsenal Have Foot In Door For Granit Xhaka Transfer

By Josh Sippie

By Fanny Schertzer (Own work) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC BY 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
By Fanny Schertzer (Own work) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC BY 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons /
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Granit Xhaka had seemingly written off a move to Arsenal when the rumors first emerged, but the Swiss midfielders agent and father has revealed more.

Arsenal have supposedly already landed the signature of one defensive midfielder. All signs, team mates, medicals and more have indicated that Mohamed Elneny is on his way to Arsenal barring a work visa.

Related Story: https://paininthearsenal.com/2016/01/03/15-arsenal-transfer-rumors-to-follow-come-january/

However, if rumors are to be believed, and that is always a big ‘if’, Arsenal is not done looking at the crop of defensive midfielders out there. What exactly would have lit the fire under Arsene Wenger is unclear. Perhaps he finally sees Arsenal as title contenders. Who knows. Whatever the case, other defensive midfielders that Arsenal have been linked to are starting to re-emerge.

Granit Xhaka’s agent and father has done the questionable thing and not dismissed transfer links. Whereas the go-to would be to deny and say that Xhaka is happy at Borussia Monchengladbach, Xhaka’s agent and father, Ragip had this to say, as quoted by the Metro: “At the moment I prefer not to say too much. We’ll see what happens. I can say that several big clubs are interested. Everything is possible, we’re not ruling anything out.”

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It’s not like father Xhaka admitted that his son was packing up and moving on, but he sure opened the door for some serious offers by not slamming the door.

Granit Xhaka is one of the best defensive midfield options out there for Arsenal. He has the same intensity and work ethic as Francis Coquelin (as well as the same card accumulation), but those disciplinary issues can be fixed and the results will be similar to what we have now in Coquelin.

At Monchengladbach, Xhaka plays a central midfielder role where he has more freedom to attack and defend based on the flow of the game. He is not strictly a defensive midfielder. At Arsenal, as we have seen, There is traditionally one majority-defensive midfielder and one with the freedom to roam.

Granit Xhaka could feasibly fill both roles. He has enough offensive ability to push the attack forward but he has the strength and intensity to play strictly defensively. Arsenal need both roles in higher quantity. At defensive mid, they have only Coquelin and potentially Elneny. In the more-offensive role, they have Ramsey and Cazorla.

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That is very thin. With Arteta, Rosicky and Flamini supposedly moving on and Cazorla within a year or so of being an exit liability, Arsenal need to start thinking about midfield solutions. They cannot rely on Jack Wilshere to ever be healthy. Jon Toral and Isaac Hayden could make an impact. But again, relying on ‘ifs’ is not something that a perennially title-contending team should be dealing with.

Arsenal face competition from Tottenham, naturally, as the Hotspur are riding high on the belief that they are title-contenders, even if we all know better. Surely Mohamed Elneny is a solid option, but if Arsenal come out with just Elneny and the Spurs land Xhaka, questions will be asked. Lots of questions.

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Arsenal need depth at midfield and they cannot rely on 20-something-year old prospects to fulfill it. Xhaka is young and can be a mainstay at Arsenal for years to come. A midfield stock of Coquelin, Ramsey, Xhaka and Elneny is strong, athletic and young. They can be the base of this midfield for another decade.

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