‘I’ve eaten a lot of humble pie’: Ian Wright says he completely misjudged £30m Arsenal player

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Ian Wright has admitted he completely misjudged Granit Xhaka at Arsenal before this season.

Speaking on Optus Sport, the pundit was asked to name the Arsenal player that has surprised him the most this season, and he said that Xhaka has shocked him.

Wright admitted that he has been critical of the midfielder in the past due to his recklessness, but now that he’s playing in a more attacking position, he has completely transformed his view.

Indeed, Wright says that he’s had to eat plenty of humble pie with Xhaka, and he’s been more than happy to admit he was wrong.

Xhaka was misjudged

Wright gave his verdict on the £30m man.

“Who has been the surprise? I’d probably say Granit Xhaka. He’s been a brilliant servant to the club to this point. Every manager has trusted him. He’s magnificent in the dressing room. This season with Mikel using him as more of an attacking force, what you’re seeing now is that he doesn’t get involved in fouls and that stuff, that wasn’t the strength of his game.

“He’s one of the driving forces of the team and I’m very pleased that Mikel has recognised that in him and he’s turned into the player where it would be tough for us to put a side out where we need anything and he’s not in it.

“I was one of his critics, you’d see him make mistakes that you make when you’re not in the right position. I’ve eaten a lot of humble pie over Xhaka and I’ve got no problem with that because he’s come and he’s proved a lot of people wrong.

“Mikel has to take a lot of credit for that because he’s playing him in a position where he can excel and the reason we’re excelling in the team is because he’s one of the main cogs in that,” Wright said.

Not the only one

Wright says that he was wrong about Xhaka, and, in all honesty, he’s not the only pundit who has been guilty of miscasting the Arsenal man.

For years, the Swiss star was shoehorned into the role of being something of a pantomime villain role as a midfielder who is always on the verge of making a massive mistake or getting sent off.

As we’ve seen this season, it was actually just a case of Xhaka being played in the wrong position all along, and now, finally, he’s been able to show his quality.

Xhaka may not be the most surprising performer at Arsenal this season, he may be the most surprising performer in the entire Premier League.