Arsenal: Taulant Xhaka double-dip may be solution to Granit frustration

Arsenal already have one Xhaka in Granit, but could doubling up on the Xhaka family solve a problem or two or is this just getting ridiculous?

It’s everyone’s worst nightmare. I know there are people out there that hate listening to me blabber about how Arsenal can build around Granit Xhaka. If anything, it makes me want to talk about it more.

But now, there are two Xhaka’s to talk about. Taulant Xhaka, Granit’s older brother by a year, admitted that he wants to play alongside his brother again, whether that be at Arsenal or at FC Basel.

Of course, my natural instinct is to say that if there is anything that beat having one Xhaka, it’s having a second Xhaka.

All joking aside, this isn’t the worst idea in the world, for numerous reasons. For starters, everybody associated with the club can use a bit of added motivation and Granit is no exception. Throw his brother into the fray and you can bet it will spur him on, if not just a wee bit more.

Plus, he wouldn’t cost much, as Transfermarkt indicates a market value in the low £1-2m range. Obviously he would cost more than that, but not by much.

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Going beyond that though, we get to the real reason why Taulant Xhaka would make for a highly intelligent signing.

What do we want in a midfielder? We want a ball winner, a wrecker, a more successful Francis Coquelin. Even if it’s only in a rotational role, when extra defense is needed. We still need to have the capability to unleash a player of that type and, right now, we don’t.

Taulant Xhaka is athletic, he is a more ferocious, no-nonsense player who flies into tackles, fearlessly attacks the ball, and understands his responsibilities. He has the skill set that I think many people were looking for when his brother Granit joined up. While Granit is a passer and a thinker, Taulant is a mover and a wrecker.

He has box to box ability however, and contributes to goals and assists often enough that it has to be considered an added perk.

I’m not saying that he is our midfield solution. There are other people out there that could potentially be that, but he can a reliable rotational option that can work his way into the first team and, when called upon, hold nothing back. As I mentioned, he is a warrior.

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And I don’t know about you, but I could go for a few more warriors on this squad.

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