Arsenal: Selling Granit Xhaka requires substantial surgery

Granit Xhaka again reiterated that he intends to honour his Arsenal contract. Despite his obvious flaws, selling would demand major surgery.

For those that have read Pain in the Arsenal for any great deal of time, and thank you to those that do, you will know that I am not the greatest Granit Xhaka supporter. One of the most divisive players in the squad, there is a wide range of opinion on the Swiss international. I probably fall a little below average.

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I do recognise his value to the team, which was proven most plainly last season in his absences, and I am not ready to cast him aside as completely useless, but I also take issue with his severe limitations and do not believe that he is ready to anchor a midfield to compete for a Premier League title.

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This summer, there have been some strange reports suggesting that Xhaka could be sold. He did not exactly refute questions surrounding his future after the Europa League final and there was a curious confirmation from his ‘cousin’ on social media that he will be leaving, though that has since been proven to likely be false. Inter Milan are the named club allegedly leading the race to sign him, but it remains to be seen if a move will actually be made.

This weekend, Xhaka was asked about his future at Arsenal. His response to reporters at the Nations League was fairly clear:

"“Not that I know. I have another four years on my contract, I only signed last year. I’m happy there, my family too. That’s the most important.”"

This could all be much ado about nothing, which I do happen to think it may be, but even those that are on the negative side of the Xhaka conversation, of which I am one, must concede that selling Xhaka this summer would take some major surgery to recover from, which would not be ideal given Unai Emery is starting his rebuild and must already address plenty of other positions first.

If you were to take Xhaka out of the central midfield, it would unquestionably leave Arsenal extremely light at yet another position. Matteo Guendouzi showed promise in his first season, but he is not ready to be relied upon week in week out like Xhaka is, Lucas Torreira does a very different job and lacks the passing skills to replicate the metronomic impact of Xhaka, while Aaron Ramsey is already leaving and Mohamed Elneny will be sold also, leaving numbers already a little light.

At some point, Xhaka will need to be improved upon. He is not a title-winning midfielder. And he never will be. But perhaps delaying that key personnel change for another year might be wise. Emery is already conducting a whole lot of change at the club this summer, with key players being sold or released left, right and centre. Selling Xhaka on top of that might be too much.

This does not mean that I am against the move. If a good offer is received, selling is obvious. But it must be done with great care as the midfield surgery it demands is substantial, and that could backfire badly.