Arsenal: If Granit Xhaka was going to leave, he’d already be gone

There are still lingering rumors that Granit Xhaka could leave Arsenal, but fret not, that isn’t going to happen. If it was, he’d be gone already.

It seemed pretty set in stone when Granit Xhaka‘s own agent came out and said that terms had been agreed to for a move back to the Bundesliga. Xhaka’s falling out with the Arsenal “faithful” looked to be the end of the Swiss international, and it wouldn’t have been surprising if it was. It seemed like once January rolled around, he would roll out of town.

The fact that we are now halfway through the month and he’s still here should be a massive giveaway that he isn’t leaving. Which must really be irking all you haters out there. Xhaka is staying ! Say it with me!

The big turning point was Mikel Arteta. Without him, I have no doubts that Xhaka would have left the club and gone back to the Bundesliga. But Arteta made it a point to keep hold of Xhaka, and whatever he told the guy, it worked.

Not only did January open up and Xhaka remained, but Xhaka kept his spot in the starting XI and he was even seen sporting the captain’s armband against Crystal Palace (ironically enough) after Aubameyang’s red card and Lacazette’s substitution.

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As I’ve mentioned before, I have to imagine that part of what kept Xhaka was Arteta offering him some piece of the captaincy. Likely because Arteta is smart and understands what Xhaka brings to this club, as well as the leadership qualities he possesses.

All this to say that the future we were hoping to build around Xhaka (yes, ‘we’, even if you didn’t know it) still exists. We don’t need to have a massive turnover to succeed. We need to build around the talent we have and fill in the missing pieces as we go along. But in order to do that, you need a firm foundation to build off of and according to Arteta (and me… and Wenger… and Emery… and Ljungberg…) Xhaka is and will now continue to be a big part of that foundation. So get over it, get used to it and get on board. Because this is the right step forward.

Hopefully this is just the way Arteta does things now. We don’t have to keep everyone, but when you know a player is integral to the future of the club, you pull out the stops to keep him until a better option presents itself.