Granit Xhaka has revealed that he would have definitely quit Arsenal if not for Mikel Arteta.
The Switzerland international is one of the Gunners’ most improved players at Arsenal since Arteta took over from Unai Emery 11 months ago.
At the time, Xhaka’s future in North London looked grim after Emery stripped him of the Arsenal captaincy following a turbulent game against Crystal Palace at the Emirates Stadium last October.
The former Borussia Monchengladbach midfielder was booed by the home support after his reaction to being substituted by the Spaniard, before cursing at the fans.
With speculation rife about a return to Germany in January of this year, it looked like Xhaka – who earns £100,000 per week at Arsenal – would be leaving the Premier League.
And the player himself has admitted that his heart was ‘already gone from the club’ prior to Arteta’s appointment.
He told Nzzam Sontag: “My heart was already gone from the club. The fact that I’m still there today is thanks to the coach Mikel Arteta.”
Although Arteta has done a great job with Xhaka, a lot of coaches could have got him back playing well.
That’s because the Arsenal lads had virtually given up playing for Emery at that time and back then, quite a few stars were under-performing in a major way.
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