Alexandre Lacazette reacts in one word on Instagram as Granit Xhaka reaches landmark

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Alexandre Lacazette has lauded Granit Xhaka on social media after his former Arsenal teammate tied the record for the most caps for Switzerland after making his 118th appearance for his country on Sunday night.

Xhaka has taken to Instagram to express his delight at reaching the milestone which came as the Swiss played out a 3-3 draw with Belarus. There was a remarkable end to the game, with the visitors going 3-1 up in the 84th minute.

However, goals in the 89th and 90th minute from Manuel Akanji and Zeki Amdouni earned Switzerland the draw. The result leaves the side on pole position to automatically qualify for Euro 2024.

Alexandre Lacazette lauds Granit Xhaka after landmark appearance

But the game was also significant as it saw Granit Xhaka appear for the 118th time for his country. The milestone takes him alongside Heinz Hermann. And of course, you would imagine that Xhaka will set the new record next month.

Unsurprisingly, the 31-year-old wanted to take to social media to comment on reaching the landmark. And amongst those to reply was Alexandre Lacazette, who hit the nail on the head with his response…

Arsenal would have surely benefitted from having midfielder for one more year

It has arguably only become fully apparent just how important Xhaka had been to Arsenal now that he has moved on.

Of course, Mikel Arteta’s men are still flying and doing brilliantly in the Premier League. And Declan Rice has proved to be an outstanding signing.

But the Gunners did have issues filling that number eight role Xhaka played so well for the last couple of years. Kai Havertz is obviously more dangerous going forward. But he offered Oleksandr Zinchenko nothing like the same defensive support when the Ukrainian moved infield.

Perhaps Rice will be the man to really fill that void now that Thomas Partey is back. But having Xhaka in the squad for another year would have surely been a big boost for the Gunners.