Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta praises Granit Xhaka

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Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has raved about Granit Xhaka on the club’s official website.

Arteta has praised the 28-year-old midfielder and has outlined his importance in the Arsenal dressing room.

The Spaniard has outlined the maturity of the Switzerland international and the improvement he is showing.

Arteta told Arsenal’s official website about Xhaka: “He has been really consistent. I think he is improving game by game. I think his balance with Thomas is getting stronger, they haven’t played much together, and that chemistry has to flourish. I think they make each other better and we have a good balance between left and right footed there in those spaces as well.

“Then there is his leadership level as well, he has matured a lot as a player and he has got a big importance in that dressing room. On the pitch, I think he is doing things much, much better than before as well.

“He is a really important player for us. Since I have been here I think he has played almost every game – and there is not a better way to show how much you like and you value a player than to give him minutes on the pitch.”

Amazing turnaround

Xhaka has established himself as an important player in the current Arsenal team and is playing well at the moment.

According to WhoScored, the 28-year-old has made 17 starts and one substitute appearance in the Premier League for the Gunners so far this season, scoring one goal and providing one assist in the process.

The former Basel star has also made three appearances in the Europa League for the Gunners this campaign, according to WhoScored.

It is quite a turnaround from Xhaka, who was on the verge of leaving Arsenal not so long ago.

In July 2020, the midfielder said that he was “very, very close to leaving the club”, as quoted in Goal.com, after being stripped of the captaincy in November 2020 by then Arsenal manager Unai Emery for reacting angrily to supporters who jeered him when he was being substituted against Crystal Palace in October 2020.