Arsenal: Selling Granit Xhaka forces necessary action

There are growing links suggesting that Granit Xhaka could be sold this summer, with Inter Milan sniffing around. Should Arsenal sell him, it would force a necessary action which must be completed at some point during the Unai Emery rebuild.

There are plenty of candidates in the Arsenal squad to be sold this summer. After yet another disappointing season in which many individuals underwhelmed, there is a whole raft of potential sales that many fans would welcome. But away from the obvious names, Shkodran Mustafi, Mesut Ozil and Mohamed Elneny leading the line, it seems as though we may have to add another name to the potential sales list.

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This week, there have been growing reports claiming that Granit Xhaka could leave the club this summer. The midfielder was asked about the reports regarding his future will with the Switzerland national team prior to the summer’s Nation League and his answer, while not confirming the reports, did not exactly deny them either.

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Xhaka was also equally evasive regarding his future after the Europa League final and was reportedly furious with the way his teammates performed in their most important match of the past half-decade. However likely you believe a Xhaka departure to be this summer, it is not completely beyond the realms of possibility.

And should Arsenal choose to sell Xhaka this summer, it would commit them to a process that they would have to complete at some point during the Emery rebuild. The midfield, and Xhaka in particular, must, at some point, be improved upon.

I had initially envisaged that Emery would preserve the central midfield for this summer. With Aaron Ramsey already leaving, Elneny and Ozil likely to depart also, and plenty of change at other positions, the continuity of Xhaka in the holding midfield role might have been useful.

However, Xhaka is certainly not a player who you can build a title-winning — or even title-challenging — midfield around. He does have his uses, but serious flaws in his game that have not subsided in three years will always prevent him from becoming that elite central midfield presence that Arsenal require.

At some point, then, Emery would need to improve on the Swiss international. A more mobile, dual-footed and defensively aware individual to partner the effervescent, vivacious Lucas Torreira could make the double-pivot positions in a 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3 formation look quite strong. But this change pales in comparison to the many other shortcomings of the squad, and I had expected Emery to focus his attention and resources on those first.

Perhaps Emery is taking a more ruthless approach that many had expected and simply trying to make as many as what he feels are necessary changes in one summer. Or perhaps he views as Xhaka as a greater weakness than other positions, like, for example, centre-half or left-back. Or perhaps these rumours are a load of baloney.

One way or another, though, if the Emery rebuild is to be a successful one, Xhaka must be improved upon. Whether that be this summer or a future summer, we will have to wait to find out.