Arsenal: Granit Xhaka may soon be all that remains

Missing out on the Champions League yet again is going to have repercussions, and Arsenal may soon be left with a brand new midfield around one man.

Arsenal will be spending two straight years without the Champions League, which is a problem we have never had to deal with before. Not just will they not have Champions League, but they won’t have the other major draw – Arsene Wenger – either.

So many of these Arsenal players were brought up under the tutelage of Wenger and were tied to the club primarily because of him. And many of those players are at the age now where they need to figure out the next step in their careers.

Two of those guys are Aaron Ramsey and Jack Wilshere, neither of whom are locked in for the long haul and both of whom are being asked serious questions regarding their long-term future with this club.

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Those are two of the three starters in this midfield, and, Ramsey especially, a major influence on proceedings in the center of the pitch. Aside from those two, when you think of big-time impacts, you can’t find much else. There are some promising up-and-comers, but when you boil it down, Granit Xhaka is just about all that remains if Ramsey and Wilshere depart.

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Now, if you ask me, that’s just fine (although I do sincerely hope Ramsey and Wilshere stay). Xhaka is the kind of guy that you can build a midfield around and, now that we are finding the best of him, we should also be looking for the best around him as well – that is, assuming the present midfield falls apart this summer.

However, certainly there are people out there that aren’t enthused by the growing presence of Xhaka and this prospect of him being the centerpiece of this midfield.

But on the flip side of that, we all know what Xhaka can and cannot do, and if you vacate two major midfield slots – also known as two starting positions on a club like Arsenal – you are also going to find a lot of suitors to fill those roles around Xhaka.

And just like that, building around Xhaka has its benefits, when you boil it down to starting with him alone. Because when you do, you can really diagnose the exact science of what you want this midfield to be.

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Not just that, but come one now, we all have to accept that Xhaka has been top quality lately, and if this is what can be relied on, then more power to it.