Ex-Spurs man lauds Arteta for changing Arsenal duo whose ‘careers were almost finished’

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Tom Huddlestone has praised Mikel Arteta on The Football Show on Sky Sports News (23/09/20 at 12:10 pm) for turning around the careers of Granit Xhaka and Mohamed Elneny.

The ex-Tottenham midfielder thinks that 12 months ago, both their careers at Arsenal were ‘almost finished’ but now they are starting games together in the Premier League.

Elneny was on-loan out in Turkey last season and it seemed as though he was going to just go straight back out of the exit door this summer, whilst Xhaka had the infamous moment against Crystal Palace when Unai Emery was in charge.

But it seems as though if you impress Arteta then he will give you a chance, as Huddlestone touched upon the situations Mesut Ozil, Matteo Guendouzi, Xhaka and Elneny now find themselves in.

On Ozil and Guendouzi: “He has handled them two in the best manner possible,” Huddlestone told Sky Sports.

“He’s almost pushed them to one side and has cracked on with the players that are buying into what he wants.

“You see their midfield [against West Ham] if you said 12 months ago to any Arsenal fan that at the start of next season you are going to have Granit Xhaka and Elneny as your two midfielders, it looked like their Arsenal careers were almost finished.

“Arteta does seem to be open in giving second chances. But with Guendouzi and Ozil, it does seem to run a little bit deeper than that and it wouldn’t surprise me, because he has the backing of the board, if they cashed in or tried to get the two of them out of the club as soon as possible.

“Try to keep the positive atmosphere that they seem to have amongst the squad.”

It does seem as there’s no way back for Ozil or Guendouzi now, with the duo missing from Arsenal’s matchday squad that beat Leicester City in the League Cup yesterday.

It’s a hard stance by Arteta but it’s one that has seemingly got the backing of the fans because he’s being consistent with his authoritative nature and now he has the trophies to back it up.

But this is just the start because Arsenal fans want Champions League football and they want to challenge for the Premier League title again. And in order for Arteta to reach those goals, he needs everyone on board.