Arsenal: Time To Get Excited About Granit Xhaka

Arsenal don’t make many big signings. One a year, on a good year. That makes the possibility of Granit Xhaka very slim, however, it might be time to get excited.

There are so many stupid rumors out there, such as Arsenal spending £70m or some other ridiculous number on Paul Pogba. Rumors like that make other rumors, viable rumors, seem less believable. Plus, Arsenal is not known for making big signings. But that doesn’t mean that they don’t make them.

Last summer Arsenal bought only Petr Cech. The year before that was a bigger year, with Alexis Sanchez, Calum Chambers, Mathieu Debuchy and David Ospina. Before that? Mesut Ozil. But Arsenal is no Manchester club, purchasing a fresh handful of stars every year.

That being said, it is only reasonable that there could be a big signing in the future for Arsenal. Again, best to temper expectations, but for all the hate pitched at Wenger for not spending money, he does make a big signing from time to time. The last three summers he has made three individual signings that play a huge part in Arsenal’s current scheme.

By that standard, Granit Xhaka is not all that unrealistic. He is even more realistic than our last three big signings before they happened. Even though the belief is just as low as ever that a signing will be made. Although, it does deserve some consideration when Sky Sports starts validating a rumor with coverage, and that is what Sky Germany has done.

Anyway, the point is that there are very few detractors to this rumor. The main detractor is the price, as it is soaring up near Mesut Ozil’s price. Conveniently, Wenger paid Mesut Ozil’s price, so why wouldn’t he do it again?

In terms of fit, few look better than Xhaka. Just 23 years of age, Xhaka has made over 100 appearances in the Bundesliga and has been a regular for the Swiss national squad as well.

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But we are all very aware of Arsene Wenger’s reluctance to signing a ‘defensive’ type midfielder (even though that’s exactly what Francis Coquelin is). Thankfully, Xhaka is not a defensive-only midfielder. He maintains nearly three tackles and interceptions per game, so the defensive reinforcement in midfield is there. But offensively, he has just as many qualities. He is, after all, a box-to-box midfielder.

On the year, he has three goals and maintains a pass accuracy right around 85%. Not the worst gig in the world.

The main drawback that many have pointed out is that Xhaka has disciplinary issues. He has been sent off with a red three times this season. However, when you think about it, Francis Coquelin had major disciplinary options as well and they essentially evaporated in half a season.

Not only that, but the Premier League has more tolerance towards that sort of behavior. And besides, would a little more fear from Arsenal’s midfield be the worst thing in the world?

Next: Arsenal Must Build Around Laurent Koscielny

It’s always a good idea to temper expectations with an Arsenal transfer rumor, but that doesn’t mean we should give up all hope. This is a very realistic possibility.

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