Well, Granit Xhaka is back at Arsenal.
The Switzerland midfielder took part in Saturday’s session at London Colney after returning from the summer break.
Xhaka was given extended holidays due to his participatiton in Euro 2020 with his country during the summer.
A lot of people at Arsenal – and the fans – won’t have expected the 28-year-old to still be a Gunner with less than two weeks from the Premier League season starting.
The former Borussia Monchengladbach midfielder had looked on the brink of joining Jose Mourinho’s Roma on a number of occasions during the summer, but both clubs have reached an impasse in negotiations.
According to Dharmesh Sheth of Sky Sports, the move is ‘off’ now for the time being and if that wasn’t shock enough, there’s even a lot of speculation that Arsenal will extend his contract in what is quite a surprising u-turn.
Good news?
Well it isn’t the worst news, even if Xhaka remains unpopular among a lot of Arsenal fans.
It isn’t a terrible development because his performance against France at the Euros was a big reminder that Xhaka, on his day, is one heck of a footballer – and the fact that Mourinho – one of the most decorated coaches in modern football – wants him is testament to that.
The North Londoners coughed up £30 million for him five years ago and although he has been quite hit and miss for the most part, he is now in the prime of his career.
And Arsenal keeping him for his best years can’t be a bad thing.
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