Arsenal: Sead Kolasinc the remainder of the Granit Xhaka we didn’t get

Many Arsenal supporters were expecting Granit Xhaka to be Patrick Vieira, but while he has some of that, he doesn’t have it all. Sead Kolasinac has the rest.

When Arsenal announced the signing of Granit Xhaka, it was after such a long period of having no defensive midfielders. Mohamed Elneny was brought in just six months prior, but he wasn’t the answer either. We needed that big name, big-bodied guy to do the dirty work.

That was what was expected out of Granit Xhaka. But that isn’t what we go. Instead, we got a cerebral creator, a veritable genius, hidden in the body of a bruiser. Of course, he has a mean side too, and has no qualms with a crunching tackle or two or an impassioned shove of an opposing player, but the warnings were true. This was not a Patrick Vieira.

He was still plenty dangerous and has innumerable weapons. He’s just a different type of player and we are all starting to get that now.

There were things he lacked, but it’s not like he is any worse because of it. These things that he ‘lacks’ are just the other pieces we wanted, but he has been more than sufficient and has his sights set on a magnificent year which will hopefully lead into another decade of pure brilliance.

But those traits that he didn’t have were as follows: undying athleticism combined with unstoppable effort and the undeniable ability to win the ball back on the drop of a dime.

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Thankfully, while the Xhaka signing went in another direction, the missing pieces were followed up on by Sead Kolasinac, move lovingly known as the Bosnian Hulk. Kolasinac has those exact pieces that we were wrong to expect Xhaka to have and we have seen it already. His effort alone has led to goals and assists this preseason already and his ability to win back the ball was never up for question.

What is up for question, however, is how the Bosnian will be utilized. He was used as a substitute center back when Per Mertesacker took a Gary Cahill elbow to the eyebrow, but he made it into the Bundesliga team of the year for his exploits at left wing back, where he is able to utilize all of his abilities to be an absolute menace.

He is capable of playing four different positions, from left back to defensive midfielder, but given the formation, left wing back and center back would be the only positions we will see him play, most likely.

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One thing is certain, though, and that’s that wherever you play this guy, you will get the effort of two men. Which is why left wing back seems like such a good idea.

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