Arsenal: Granit Xhaka Still Missing One Crucial Piece

Arsenal went for the complete package in Granit Xhaka, but there is still one major piece of his game that hasn’t exactly clicked into place yet.

When you actually look at the chips stacked against Granit Xhaka moving to Arsenal, they are pretty damn substantial. We here at Pain in the Arsenal gave it the stamp of approval (our first every given… and it still is our first) and proudly brag that we called this transfer. But logistically, it doesn’t jive with what Arsene Wenger was accused of.

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First of all, Arsenal landed a very cheap, young, rounded talent in Mohamed Elneny in January. For all intents and purposes, the Egyptian does everything the Swiss does, he just isn’t as finely tuned.

Secondly, the price tag was rather high, nearly Mesut Ozil territory. And while Xhaka was fantastic in his own right, he still had some growing to do.

The only explanation for the signing is that Xhaka was seen as the complete midfielder. Wenger only signs players when they are perfect and given the mass of midfield talent that we have, Xhaka had to have been impeccable in his assessment.

That being said, we have to judge Xhaka on that standard. Is he the “everything” midfielder we were looking for?

Wenger has already benched him early on so as to improve his defense, which has indeed improved. He is shaking off the early mistakes, dropping pinpoint longballs, firing from distance and rarely ever losing a ball.

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All of these things are major factors, but there is one major piece of the puzzle that hasn’t fallen into place yet, and that is the chance creation.

While Xhaka has never been an assisting machine, I can’t help but think that the end goal is to turn him into this all-purpose midfielder. Mainly because he so clearly has the tools to do so. His passing is pristine, those passes just have to start becoming more threatening.

After all, if Santi Cazorla can produce two or more chances a game from that same deep position, then someone of Xhaka’s passing chops should be able to as well.

Not only that, but Xhaka at the Euros produced 2.5 chances per appearance for Switzerland, showing that, when called upon to do so, he can be an offensive cog more than just the occasional cannon blast from thirty yards out.

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If Wenger can draw this productive passing out of him, the sky is the limit.