£20m player now admits he is delighted to have ‘got out’ of Arsenal

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Arsenal is the place to be under Mikel Arteta.

Having previously been quite a toxic institution towards the end of the Arsene Wenger era and also during the Unai Emery years, the Emirates Stadium now seems like a great place to play football and fight for silverware.

However, a player who left north London as recently as July 2023 has now admitted he was delighted to have “got out” of Arsenal…

Granit Xhaka shares honest comments about Arsenal

Back in July 2023, Bayer Leverkusen completed the signing of Granit Xhaka in a £20m move from Arsenal.

It came after the Switzerland international had restored his reputation in north London under Arteta, having seemingly burned his bridges when throwing the Arsenal shirt to the ground as he was booed off by thousands of fans, during a 2-2 draw against Crystal Palace back in October 2019.

However, that moment clearly had a strong impact on Xhaka – who has impressed Arteta in Germany – as he has now revealed on Bayer Leverkusen’s documentary “A Dream Comes True” that he was overjoyed to leave.

Xhaka said: “I was lucky to be booed in 2019. As captain at Arsenal. In front of 60,000 people. I say luck because it made me incredibly strong. I’m grateful that I got out of there, because it was a black day for my family, my wife, my parents. I think it was even harder for them than it was for me.”

Regardless of whether you felt the Swiss star was performing well or not at the time, those who booed should feel ashamed – it was absolutely no way to treat any player, let alone the captain, and it is no surprise that the jeers evidently had a profound impact on the man from Basel.

Win for all parties

While these comments were sad to read, everything has worked out well.

Xhaka secured himself a Bundesliga title and also a DFB-Pokal medal last season in a remarkable campaign for Bayer Leverkusen, which would have ended with an unbeaten treble too, had Atalanta not reigned supreme in the UEFA Europa League final.

In regards to Arsenal, the Gunners secured a respectable £20m fee for Xhaka – who Paul Merson adores – putting that towards a more impactful midfielder in Declan Rice.