I’ve had a manic few weeks and, amid it all, wanted to digest the season properly. But we’re back.
Content over the next while will look at the squad, transfer targets (and ideas), with some of that for paid subscribers only, and anything else that pops up.
Today, it’s all for everyone and it’s all about the Granit Xhaka as he patiently sits in the Arsenal departure lounge.
Granit Xhaka had a brilliant season for Arsenal. He was better than ever. But maybe he held the team back. Or, to be more fair, maybe he would hold the team back if he were to stay this summer.
Let’s rewind quickly, all the way back to the Arsène Wenger era and then the period Unai Emery. Back then, it was widely agreed that Arsenal would struggle to ever even qualify for the Champions League with a midfield that Xhaka played a huge role in. That looked undeniable in Mikel Arteta’s first season-and-a-half in the dugout.
But in 2022/23, Xhaka played more minutes than all but one of his other six seasons at the club and the team went above and beyond. With Xhaka at the heart of everything, Arsenal didn’t just qualify for the Champions League but managed to compete for the Premier League title.
In the only two games he didn’t start, Arsenal went 2-0 down at home against Southampton (before drawing 3-3) and 2-0 down at home against Bournemouth (before winning 3-2). Everyone was wrong — Arsenal couldn’t just qualify for the Champions League with Xhaka, they couldn’t have done it, or sustained a title challenge without him.
So it feels like this summer, after a seven-goal, seven-assist Premier League campaign from the Swiss (his previous six campaigns yielded just 10 goals and 17 assists), is a strange time to allow him to leave.
But Arsenal have big ambitions now, big ambitions that require ruthlessness, and Xhaka has both been integral to a brilliant team but has held it back, with Mikel Arteta getting everything there is to get out of Xhaka but having to create a specific role for him in order to do so.
And please don’t get me wrong, Xhaka performed superbly. His will and energy to press aggressively and ability to defend on the front foot helped Arsenal pin teams back and win the ball back high upfield — no team had as many high turnovers in the Premier League in 2022/23 and Xhaka was a crucial part of that.
His late movement into the box lead to dangerous chances (and goals) consistently, as did his ability to know when not to make those runs and his timing in rotating wide, allowing Oleksandr Zinchenko or Gabriel Martinelli to get creative with their positions without exposing the team to counter-attacks. Xhaka’s height and physicality no doubt helped the team’s impressive defensive record from set-pieces as well.
On a personal level, Xhaka shot more than ever, had a better xG per shot than ever, had more touches in the final third and opposition box than ever and committed less fouls and received fewer yellow cards than in any of his previous seasons with the club.
But he also had his fewest touches (per 90), his fewest carries, his fewest ball recoveries and his fewest tackles and interceptions.
Arteta took the Swiss away from the areas that his deficits previously held the team back. It’s no coincidence that the manager has never used Xhaka as the deepest midfielder; he has never trusted him to play that role with possession, where he is too predictable (with his one-footedness) and too slow to move the ball, or without the ball, where he was overly aggressive in his challenges and did not have the legs to cover space on the break.
Arsenal have become more dominant by making Xhaka more involved in the opposition box and less involved everywhere else.
Firstly, if the player in that ‘left-eight’ role is going to have their biggest impact on the game upfield, surely there are better options than Xhaka no matter how well he has played?
Secondly, if we can move on from Xhaka, we can develop different plans, ones that don’t have to accommodate him (which this approach has done excellently, really getting the maximum out of the player) and his flaws.
Now, then, is the right time to move him on. Arsenal cannot lose the good things Xhaka has brought to the role this past 18 months, namely selfless running and positioning, defensive robustness, and impact in the final third. Plus, crucially, incredibly consistent availability.
But taking the next step is a no-brainer if Arsenal can find a player who can do a lot of those things but is more creative, more technically gifted, more able to play in tight spaces. Those are things Xhaka doesn’t have at the level we want to reach.
I was surprised and a little disappointed to see the initial links to Bayer Leverkusen and I thought the reported asking price of around £13m was too little. But Xhaka also earns around £5m-per-year. A sale now, with a year (and an option) left on his deal saves the club £23m compared to two years of Granit Xhaka and, while that may only sound like it’s still only a quarter of the fee (before wages!) the club might have to pay to sign Declan Rice, that money can still go a long way.
That’s about two years of salary for a player on £240,000-a-week at a time when Arsenal are trying to sign Rice. Or trying to tie William Saliba down to a new contract.
Arsenal need to get younger in midfield. Xhaka is 30 and will turn 31 a month into the new season, Thomas Partey turns 30 next week, Jorginho is 31 and Mohamed Elneny will be there in a month. Fixing that is clearly the next step as we build our squad. Xhaka had a fantastic season but now is the right time for the next step and I, for one, am excited to see the opportunities that could open up.