Arsenal: Can we give Granit Xhaka an even bigger contract?

Arsenal’s midfield was again a hapless body against Crystal Palace. How can we lock Granit Xhak down even more than he already is?

Arsenal didn’t have Granit Xhaka against Crystal Palace, and that’s a big contributing factor to why they lost. They were unable to win the battle in the midfield, same as against Everton. But I don’t want to belabor the point that I made after the loss at Goodison. I want to instead talk about the long-term and how important it is to keep hold of someone like Xhaka.

It scares me, thinking about how we would approach replacing Granit Xhaka. And again, there’s no reason why we should think that he’s on the way out, but speaking hypothetically, if he were, how do you go about replacing someone like that?

We’ve seen that Matteo Guendouzi isn’t ready to take the reigns. He struggles when it comes to taking charge in the midfield. Lucas Torreira is much of the same. Just as immensely talented as Guendouzi, he doesn’t yet have the leadership and presence and there’s a chance he never will.

There’s a chance that he is a complimentary player, and not a primary one. No shame in that. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is a complimentary player, that doesn’t diminish his value in the slightest.

More from Pain in the Arsenal

• 3 standout players from 1-0 victory over Everton
• 3 positives & negatives from Goodison Park victory
• Arsenal vs PSV preview: Prediction, team news & lineups
• 3 talking points from Arsenal’s victory at Goodison Park
• Mikel Arteta provides Gabriel Martinelli injury update after Everton win

But Granit Xhaka – he is a primary player, and he’s our only midfield that can say that. By a long shot. Without him, we have a bunch of complimentary players looking for a leader. Where do you turn to for that? Better question – where do you turn to for that when you have so many other pressing matters that still have to be accounted for?

I talk a lot about Xhaka’s value, but in a completely non-sarcastic light, I want to seriously say that if Xhaka could just go ahead and stay at the Emirates for the rest of his career, it would alleviate a tremendous amount of stress. Maybe it’s something we could approach once the defense has been solved, and we have valuable wingers and so many other things to rely on. But as we’ve seen this year, the importance of winning the midfield battle is massive. And it’s often the turning point in any given match.

Xhaka is the focal point that wins so many of those midfield battles, and thus the matches as well. So why wouldn’t you want to build around that for the long-term?