Xhaka reveals how close he was to leaving Arsenal before Arteta came

Granit Xhaka has recalled the time he fell out with the Arsenal supporters and was stripped of the captain’s armband.

The Swiss midfielder became a scapegoat when the Arsenal team struggled at the start of the 2019/2020 season, leading to a significant fallout with the fans.

He was subsequently stripped of the club’s captaincy and came close to leaving the Emirates at the beginning of 2020.

Reports suggested that he had already reached an agreement to join Hertha Berlin. However, Mikel Arteta took over as manager at the end of 2019 and successfully persuaded Xhaka to stay.

The Swiss captain would go on to become an integral member of the Gunners’ squad and remained at the Emirates until the summer.

He has now revealed how close he was to leaving. Xhaka tells The Athletic:

“I had many black days, sitting in my hotel room for away games, realising what had happened… I was completely devastated.

“The club showed me little respect even though I was the captain. It was clear they wanted to get rid of me as quickly as possible, apart from one person: Mikel Arteta.

“When I met him for the first time, my bags were already packed and I was about to hop on a plane. 

“With my heart and soul, I had already left the club. I said to him, ‘The solution is for me to go’. Mikel told me he wanted me to stay.”

Just Arsenal Opinion

Xhaka’s falling out with the fans was serious and it was just one of the signs that the club needed a new manager to rebuild the relationship between the players and the fans.