Ian Wright has been impressed with £35m Arsenal man Xhaka this season

With the World Cup reaching its final stages, the return of the Premier League is looming.

Arsenal’s first team are currently in Dubai getting ready, while some of their stars are still in Qatar.

Wright was covering Portugal’s match against Switzerland for ITV, and talking about the Swiss captain.

Unfortunately, Xhaka couldn’t prevent his side suffering a humiliating 6-1 defeat.

Striker Goncalo Ramos announced himself to the world with a sensational hat-trick.

The 21-year-old dealt with the world’s eyes on him after replacing Cristiano Ronaldo in the starting line-up.

Despite last night’s defeat, Wright admitted he’s been seriously impressed with Xhaka this season.

In fact, he thinks the £35m midfielder has been Arsenal’s best player this season, and has turned his career around under Mikel Arteta.

He’ll now be able to fully focus on Arsenal’s campaign after Switzerland crashed out of the World Cup last night.

Wright has been seriously impressed with Xhaka

“For me, this season William Saliba’s been amazing, but Granit Xhaka has so far for me been player of the season,” Wright said.

“He’s been a consistent performer since Mikel took over, we’re seeing the best of him now.

“He hasn’t changed his game, he’s still aggressive, always had the quality, he’s now in the right position for him which is further up the pitch.

“He’s unbelievable for us, on and off the pitch at Arsenal. I think Mikel’s literally come in and saved him.

“All the managers that have had him, have always played him in that [deeper] situation.

“Like I said, I’ve been very critical of him, simply because the guy is playing in a position that’s alien to him.

“The players love him, we’ve got young players who are very impressionable and he’s an unbelievable professional to them.

“I’m so pleased with the way it’s turned out for him at the moment.”

However, he’s certainly proving a lot of people wrong with his performances for Arsenal this campaign.

Wright has been seriously impressed with Xhaka, and will hope he can continue to guide Arsenal towards an unlikely Premier League title challenge.