Granit Xhaka’s comments about Mikel Arteta after leaving Arsenal speak volumes

Arsenal face Sunderland in the Premier League this weekend, with Granit Xhaka expected to be a big talking point despite his injury.

Now a favorite among Sunderland fans, Granit Xhaka was once a mainstay of Arsenal’s midfield, with the two clubs set to clash in the Premier League this weekend.

Arsenal have been exceptional this season and look increasingly well placed to win their first championship in over two decades. Xhaka played a part in that resurgence by joining the north Londoners from 2016 to 2023, with his final season at the club being the first time the Gunners finished second in the league under Mikel Arteta.

They then did so in the following two seasons as well, although they now have every chance of ending this campaign. Xhaka, meanwhile, returned to the Premier League at the start of the season with Sunderland, having left Arsenal to join Bayer Leverkusen in 2023.

He has already faced his former team once, in November, but it has been confirmed that he will be absent this time around. Although the Switzerland international may not be involved at the Emirates, his shadow looms large over the match as a man who has played for both clubs. Xhaka started life at Arsenal under Arsene Wenger before moving to Unai Emery and finally Arteta.

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Speaking last year, Xhaka had nothing but positive things to say about the Spaniard. “I will never forget the first day Mikel arrived,” Xhaka told The Athletic.

“At the training ground we had a big room and there were chairs in it, but the chairs were everywhere – chaos.

“He took all the people who worked in the building into this room and told them, ‘Guys, from the outside you look like this. Chaos.’ So everyone takes a chair and puts it in the right place and he says, ‘I want you to be like this every day.’

“You think ‘wow’, he already started with these standards – day one. After that, he built our mentality, our standards in training, pre-training, activation, recovery.

“He recruited people who did a great job. It was amazing to work with him because he saw football in a different way.”

While Xhaka has had glowing remarks about Arteta, his time at Arsenal hasn’t been entirely straightforward. In 2019, he had a confrontation with supporters after a 2-2 draw against Crystal Palace and almost left the club.

He apparently directed expletives at the Arsenal faithful when he was jeered after being substituted and was consequently relieved of his captaincy by Emery. It seemed certain he would walk through the exit door at Emirates – until Arteta arrived.

On his impending departure, Xhaka continued: “When Mikel arrived, he had a very open conversation with myself. My bags were already packed (packed). I was ready to leave. I already had a contract on the table with another football club.

“Mikel had two conversations with me and he convinced me to stay, to give myself another chance. He wanted to show me that I was in the right place. From that day on, I had the feeling that every word he said to me in that first conversation, everything was exactly as he said it. That’s why I say that in 2019, when Mikel arrived, he completely changed me – as a human being, on the field, off the field.”

Reflecting on the Palace incident, he said: “I had barely started to move when I heard the boos. And there weren’t just a few guys around, there were lots of people. I was shocked. I’d never experienced anything like that. When I approached the tunnel, I looked up at the fans sitting there – and it’s that part I’ll always remember.

“When I close my eyes now, I can still see their faces. I can see their anger. It’s not that they don’t love me. No, it’s different. It’s hatred. Pure hatred. I’m really not exaggerating. To feel that level of hatred and disrespect, I wouldn’t want it for my worst enemy. Even today, if we lost, I hate walking the last few meters to the tunnel, because I still recognize the faces. The same people are sitting there So now I just keep my head down I lived this nightmare once, I never want to do it again.