Arsenal: No, please, don’t let them take Granit Xhaka too

I’m still coping with Aaron Ramsey’s pending departure and now we’re hit with news that Granit Xhaka doesn’t see Arsenal as the last stop. Why?

Arsenal have had trouble lately keeping players for the long haul. And when they do, it’s often with a good degree of turmoil and questions. For the life of me, I thought Aaron Ramsey would be here forever. I thought he would retire a Gunner and I think he would have, had the club handled it better.

Still, whatever you want to say about the emotional damage, the practical damage is even worse, because despite what Piers Morgan says, he really is going to be missed, and he is going to thrive at Juventus, you just wait and see.

Granit Xhaka has only just crawled out of the depths of heavy criticism this year. I’ve been singing his praises from the start and I love being able to say “I told you so” to fans who are just coming around. Truly, I do.

But I’m not ready to say “I told you so” when Xhaka goes to a club that is “the next step up” from Arsenal and thrives, the same way Ramsey is going to thrive with Juventus.

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Xhaka opened the door to a move for the first time since joining the Gunners. He has spoken about a return to Basel at some point, but never something in the immediate future, which he has now done.

“I’m very ambitious, I want to take the next step, Arsenal does not have to be the last stop,” he said, as quoted by the Metro.

There is an intangible security in having Xhaka in the starting XI. You may have noticed this year. The difference between him being in the team and him being out is the difference between uncontrolled chaos and relative control. You saw it against Manchester United in the draw at Old Trafford and we’ve seen it on a few other occasions – the rare times when Xhaka is suspended or hurt.

If Xhaka is to take the “next step up,” he is probably going to end up at a club more catering to his abilities, which is what we’re going to see Ramsey doing – perhaps in La Liga, Serie A or the Bundesliga.

Xhaka is only just now settling into the Premier League, he is only just now reaping the rewards of his vast improvements. I hate to think that he might take all those improvements somewhere else. Make him captain, don’t sell him. I’m feeling the deja vu from saying the same thing about Ramsey.