Arsenal: Captain Granit Xhaka a veritable dream come true

Arsenal have a new captain to unveil, and when it is inevitably Granit Xhaka, I hope that everyone will join me in raucously spraying champagne everywhere.

The season is here! And with the start, we have to be aware that Arsenal will be in need of a new captain. Laurent Koscielny, our former captain, has gone full-on rogue and isn’t expected to remain at the club; and even if he does, he won’t serve prominently after what happened this preseason. Which leaves us with a new captain—Granit Xhaka!

Of course, it isn’t official yet, and Unai Emery has indicated that Nacho Monreal and Mesut Ozil are likely still in the running as well, but the only obvious candidate is Granit Xhaka, who would be the culmination of a long-held dream of the Arsenal captaincy.

That dream being that we might have someone who is learning and growing with the club, while simultaneously being so deeply embedded in the club, while also having that outspoken quality and a penchant for performing under pressure and knowing how to be a director on the pitch.

All of which Xhaka can conclusively check off his list of attributes. Some may question the “performs under pressure” assertion, but I’ll die on that hill before I concede it.

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

For all Xhaka’s faults, he has grown by leaps and bounds as far as controlling possession and not giving the ball away cheaply. I understand that it still happens on occasion. It happens to everyone on occasion, but when you handle the ball as much as he does, the probability of a wayward ball or two is higher in someone who touches the ball 120 times than a guy who touches it 50.

Excuses aside, he’s still getting better. And every season he has improved, and shown a willingness to learn and improve more. Last year was his best season, and there is every reason to suspect that he will get even better this year. Especially when you start factoring in how long he’s been at the club now and the new weapons he has around him.

Plus, of all the players out there on the pitch, there are very few that I trust to actually talk to teammates. Xhaka does that consistently. All the time. He’s chatty, and in a good way.

So stuff your negativity in a sack. Xhaka is the captain, and that is a tremendous step in the right direction. He’s going to be captain for years, and the club needs it.