New Arsenal coach Mikel Arteta admitted that he is a Granit Xhaka fan, so much so that the midfielder and former Arsenal captain was on his list of recommended signings in 2016 for Manchester City. Last Friday, Arteta succeeded Unai Emery's post at the Emirates. The Spanish coach wants to help Granit Xhaka find favor in the eyes of Arsenal fans once again, reports Mail Sports.
It appears that the newly appointed Arsenal coach Mikel Arteta was impressed with Grani Xhaka ever since he was with Manchester City. Granit Xhaka, whose career at the Emirates seems to be over following an incident with Arsenal fans during the game against Crystal Place. The event cost Swiss midfielder his captaincy.
But like Arsene Wenger and Unai Emery before him, Mikel Arteta is not the kind who could be easily swayed by public opinion about Xhaka. The Swiss midfielder joined the Gunners in the summer of 2016. Xhaka returned to the club's starting lineup these past weeks and once again played an important role for Arsenal.
"As a player, when I was going from Arsenal to City to start coaching, and we were looking in that position, he was one of the players on my list," Arteta admitted." This is how much I liked him. I was happy when Arsenal signed him because I thought he was going to be a terrific player. "He has done some really good things, and now he has got stuck in a very difficult situation that, I think, was growing and growing and growing and one day it exploded, the newly appointed Arsenal coach shared.
Mikel Arteta acknowledged that it is difficult to change the scenario for Granit Xhaka completely, but he believes that the club is in the right direction with the Swiss midfielder. The newly appointed Spanish coach will lead the Gunners at Bournemouth on Boxing Day. Many anticipate that he will name Granit Xhaka in his startling lineup.
When he was asked if he had talked to Xhaka about the incident, he shared that he told the 27 years old midfielder of how much he likes him as a player along with his expectations of him and his role in the team. Arteta also revealed that the entire team is behind Xhaka, and he will be there to help him. The Spanish coach also mentioned that he could not yet give the armband to another member of the squad as he would not want to do anything in just a couple of days drastically.
