Xhaka leaves Arsenal at the right time after unlikely Arteta revival makes him an Emirates hero

After his greatest season for Arsenal, Granit Xhaka departs an Emirates hero, which seemed an impossible scenario when Mikel Arteta took over in 2019.

Football fans are fickle. There is no doubt about that. Opinions on players chop and change, but it would be fair to say that Granit Xhaka’s road to becoming a fan favourite at Arsenal is something of a fairytale in what is normally a brutal sport.

Nobody could have predicted it after what happened against Crystal Palace in October 2019, two months before Mikel Arteta’s first match in charge. Unai Emery brought Xhaka off with half an hour to play and the Swiss midfielder trudged his way off the pitch, which the Emirates faithful took exception to with the score level.

One thing led to another and before we knew it, Xhaka had ripped his Arsenal top off after telling the home fans to f**k off and was on his way straight down the tunnel.

This saw Xhaka lose the captain’s armband and an already shaky relationship with the club’s fans was at an all-time low. He didn’t play Emery’s final three Premier League games, although he did return for the Spaniard’s final match in the dugout, a 2-1 home defeat to Eintracht Frankfurt in the Europa League. Freddie Ljungberg instantly brought Xhaka back in for his first of six games in interim charge, but the armband was not worn by the Swiss, and it would not be for a long time.

Arteta got the job and convinced Xhaka to stay at the club, which turned out to be one of his best decisions as Arsenal manager. Many Gunners fans were happy to see Xhaka leave and he was ready to do so, which he has admitted on several occasions since. Arteta clearly had a vision for someone who, like himself, captained Arsenal in the past.

It was not exactly open-heart surgery, but there was a lot that needed to be done to heal Xhaka’s relationship with the Arsenal fans, and in fairness, some supporters still don’t really like him to this day. Agendas, and all that.

Having played as a defensive midfielder for the vast majority of his time at Arsenal, Xhaka would stay in that role under Arteta. In the Spaniard’s first full season at the club, the Switzerland captain would often play in a defensive pivot with Thomas Partey and sometimes as a left-back thanks to the injury-prone Kieran Tierney, in what was clearly ‘Phase One’ of the #Process under Arteta, even if he had an FA Cup in the bag already.

Arteta could not get Xhaka in his best role until late 2021, and at this point, he was still far from being a fan favourite, especially after his red card against Manchester City in August of the same year. He was getting there, slowly but surely, and to even be tolerated by Arsenal supporters at this stage was an achievement in itself.

His only goal of 2021/22 was a bullet against Manchester United, which ended up being Arsenal’s goal of the season, and little moments like that do go a long way to righting wrongs, but a large section of the fanbase still needed winning over. Thankfully for Xhaka, the mentality Arteta has instilled around the club, from the players and coaching staff to the fans, afforded him the time to mend a rocky relationship.

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But when it came to naming a new captain following Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s exit, it was clear it could not be Xhaka after what happened before. He was instead given the honour of being Martin Odegaard’s vice-skipper and took on the role as the biggest – if not most vocal – leader in the dressing room. That part of his game will be massively missed, and even though he still has a lot to offer this Arsenal side, you cannot argue that the timing of Xhaka’s exit is pretty spot on.

This is despite by far his best season in an Arsenal shirt. Since Xhaka arrived in 2016, the Gunners have only finished in the top four once, and that was 22/23, so it wasn’t just Xhaka’s best season at the Emirates, but the club’s best season with Xhaka. Moved up into a box-to-box midfield role ahead of Partey, the 30-year-old’s game went to another level, scoring seven goals and notching as many assists in 37 Premier League appearances.

It only took six years, but it was nice to see Xhaka play in a role in which he thrived and his performances, on top of his leadership role in a very young squad, have allowed him to leave Arsenal a hero.

It might be painful to say, but the timing is right for Xhaka to depart. He could have stayed to try and win the Premier League, or even the Champions League, and with the arrival of Kai Havertz and Declan Rice, a starting berth under Arteta was clearly under threat. Xhaka deserves to keep playing at the top level on a consistent basis and he will be able to do so under Xabi Alonso at Bayer Leverkusen.

From a big-money signing who failed to win over fans, to the most hated man in north London, and then to a club hero, Xhaka has left Arsenal when his relationship with the club is at an all-time high, which means he will forever be remembered fondly and will always be welcomed back with open arms, which seemed unthinkable two years ago.