Arsenal: Can Granit Xhaka actually win a Premier League title?

Ultimately, Arsenal want to win a Premier League title. This should be the lens they make all decisions by. So, with that in mind: Can Granit Xhaka actually win a title?

Whether they mean it or not, I do not know. But they do keep saying it. Arsenal want to win a Premier League title. That may sound silly, a little away-in-the-fairies, horribly unrealistic that it is a goal that could never be realised. But it is without question the ultimate aim of the football club.

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As a result, every decision that is made should be done so with this target in mind. Does the decision that will be made make it more or less likely to win a Premier League title? That is the question that Arsenal must be asking themselves whenever it comes to making any decision.

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It is why they asked Arsene Wenger to resign at the end of last season. The decline of the club was such that there was little belief in Wenger’s ability to build a team capable of challenging for a title. It is also why Arsenal hired Unai Emery in May. The Spaniard and his project was seen as the best avenue for this club to again win a league title. It is — or at least it should be — the motivation of every decision made.

And so, that brings me to one of the most divisive figures in the squad, perhaps the player around which there is more contention and debate than any other, an individual who is equally brilliant and brainless, a midfielder who commands the match with such wonderful artistry, only to lose all control with one moment of sheer madness. Granit Xhaka is indeed an enigma. And is an enigma a good enough player to win a league title with?

Now, there are far worse players that have won far more than just one league title than Xhaka. But I cannot think of many who played such an integral role in the team, specifically, right in the heart of the midfield. Xhaka, as he is currently used, is a key part of this Arsenal team, tasked with screening the defence alongside Lucas Torreira and providing those foundational, progressive passes that often instigate attacking moves.

So, in that context, the context of being a crucial player, is Xhaka good enough to be a league winner? Well, perhaps a more accurate question might be: Is Xhaka consistent enough to be a league winner? Because when he plays at his best, which he did in an excellent showing against Liverpool in early November, then he is certainly a good enough individual to anchor a midfield on.

But the problem, as it always has been since his arrival in 2016, is that he does not perform as his talent suggests he should. Xhaka lurches from one extreme to the other, and not just from game to game. Even within the same match, he can produce 89 minutes of excellent, orchestrating midfield play that allows Arsenal to control the match, and then undermine all of his progress with one misplaced pass, one instance of laziness, one dumfounded decision.

How long do you wait for a player to either prove he can be consistent or accept that he will never be capable of it? That is the question that Arsenal and Emery must answer. Because, for Xhaka, those title aspirations may dictate that time is indeed running out.