Arsenal: 3 reasons Granit Xhaka will be even better next season

1. Arteta has plans for him

Going back to when Xhaka decided to stay at the club when all signs pointed towards him making an immediate exit. Mikel Arteta wasted no time swooping in on Xhaka and having “the conversation” with him. This conversation didn’t just get Xhaka to stay, it made Xhaka rededicate himself to success the Emirates and landed him back in the starting XI, where he has been ever since.

It doesn’t take an expert to see that Mikel Arteta has big plans for Xhaka. The same way that Arsene Wenger did. The same way that Unai Emery did. The big difference between Arteta and those other two, however, is that Arteta has more time than Wenger and he’s got a better sense of how to move this club forward than Emery.

With that time and sense, he has turned to Xhaka to be a central figure in this midfield. He’s going to add a holding midfielder and only a select few will gripe when that holding midfielder plays alongside Xhaka, not instead of him.

Next season is Arteta’s first full season in charge and it will be with a heavy reliance on Xhaka, who has proven time and again that when you need a job done, he can do it.