‘We haven’t replaced him’… Darren Bent says Arsenal are really missing £21.4m player now

Add as preferred source on Google

Darren Bent has said that Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal are missing Granit Xhaka.

The former Tottenham Hotspur striker and Arsenal fan made the comments while looking back on the Gunners’ defeat to Liverpool in the FA Cup this past weekend.

So, what has Darren Bent said about Arsenal and Granit Xhaka? Let’s take a look.

Arsenal said to be missing Granit Xhaka

Well, Darren Bent believes that Arsenal are missing Granit Xhaka at the moment. The former Tottenham Hotspur striker and talkSPORT pundit has noted that last season, fans at the Emirates Stadium were calling for the midfielder to stay.

Arsenal sold Xkaha to Bayer Leverkusen in the summer of 2023. The Gunners received a transfer fee of £21.4 million (Sky Sports) for the Switzerland international midfielder.

Bayer are at the top of the Bundesliga table at the moment. Xhaka has started all 16 league matches for Xabi Alonso’s side.

Arsenal are fourth in the Premier League table with 40 points from 20 matches, five points behind leaders Liverpool. Piers Morgan says that the Gunners should bring back Xhaka.

Bent said on talkSPORT (4:26 pm, January 8, 2024): “You know Xhaka is a miss. I remember being there last season at his last home game, and Arsenal fans were signing, ‘We want you to stay’.

“ I think he scored two in the first half of his last home at the Emirates Stadium. We haven’t replaced him. I thought, okay, let him go, get someone else in.”

My View: Time to move on from Granit Xhaka

While Granit Xhaka did well last season, we should not forget the many times when the midfielder let Arsenal down by getting needless yellow cards and getting sent off.

Yes, the 31-year-old was a very combative player in the middle of the park, he was also unpredictable.

Arsenal have to move on from Xhaka now. There is no point in ‘what ifs’ and ‘buts’ with the midfielder.

While the Gunners are going through a bad spell at the moment, we must remember that all teams struggle for a period of time over the course of a season.