Arsenal: Emery building the ‘paradise’ Wenger promised Granit Xhaka

Arsenal landing Granit Xhaka was a big deal back in 2016, and I still get chills by what Wenger told the Swiss midfielder to secure him. But Emery is making the promise come true.

Say what you will about Arsene Wenger and his time at Arsenal, but when he really wanted a player, he knew how to get them. And most of that was just because of who he was as a manager. He carried the respect of everyone in the footballing world.

Nowhere can this be seen better than by what Wenger said to secure the signing of Granit Xhaka.

“He suddenly is on the mobile and wants me. I will never forget his first sentence. He said: ‘If you want to enjoy football, you have to join us. Here is the paradise.'”

This is what Wenger said to Xhaka, by the latter’s own admission. When you hear something like that, it’s hard to say no.

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Of course, early on, it wasn’t paradise. Even today, fans still gripe about him for no good reason and when Wenger was in charge, Xhaka was tasked with doing a lot of things he wasn’t used to doing. He was the defensive midfielder, which didn’t play to his strong suits.

But it was all part of the process. It was all being built. Wenger laid the foundation of the paradise for Xhaka, but I don’t think he would have ever completed the construction of it. He would have never secured that final piece that has proven so necessary – the right partner.

In that sense, while Wenger made the promise and laid the first few bricks, it has been thanks to Unai Emery that the paradise promised to Xhaka is coming true. Xhaka now has all the freedom in the world to do as he pleases in the midfield and, lo and behold, that is what he always needed.

Wi that freedom, he is not only doing his usual passing. He is defending better than when he was tasked with defending and he is controlling better than ever before. He has become everything he was supposed to become in Wenger’s ‘paradise.’ And Emery has had a huge part to play in that culmination.

Of course, now we just need the fans to see it, and the press too, because Xhaka really is a huge piece of the paradise puzzle here at the Emirates. Whatever successes the club hopes to find will be highly influenced by Xhaka’s abilities. Which is why I’m so confident that we’re going to start winning things really soon.