✍️ OFFICIAL Granit Xhaka (Out)

[CaseUteinberger]

Will be sad to see him go. Spent a lot of time defending him here, and he was finally repaying some of the faith I've shown him. But I guess it's best to leave on a high. He knows that the knives will be out as soon as he has a slight dip in form.

I am glad for him that he gets to leave on a high. I was a very vocal critic of his, but fair play, the lad knuckled down and won the fan base including myself over. A real professional and that is all one can ask for. He played through some really tough times and the manages kept playing him, so got nothing to hold against him. If he now leaves getting us a good fee all the more credit in the bank I feel!

Gut gearbeitet Xhaka!

 

[remains]

Was at the Emirates for his last game. Crowd were chanting his name most of the game and went mental when he got his goals. Proper nice send off.

 

[Jasinho]

£21.5m is not bad for an almost 31-year old but kinda sad to see him go after his incredible last season, not to mention losing a legit leader in the team. Wish him all the best though.
Hope Declan will be able to step up to the required level to make up for this loss.

 

[Macho]

Became one of my favourites over the past couple of years, but I am a fan of leaving on a high and I think he's made the right decision here.

Fair play to him for turning it around and best of luck.

 

[Heavy Duty Rom]

The fact that we consider selling a player in his reasonable market value "Edu's best sell ever" tells a lot about how low our expectations are regarding selling players.
Edu did cook lately signing top targets but selling high this summer is a big test.

Give him a break man. Look at the turnaround in such a short space of time. Cleared out deadwood and players on high contracts. This summer, tied down Saka, Martinelli and Saliba. Doing a good job if you ask me.

 

[Bagels]

Going to end up missing him (who would have thought??)… some incredibly frustrating moments for us, but ultimately ending it on a peak for us.

Consummate professional by all accounts, and at the very least always gave it 100%, which is all you can really ask.

Also, love that he flipped off the entitled abusers. Remember a lot of the tears on here afterwards

All the best to the man, hope he has success at his new club, and thanks for all the work put in day in and day out for us.

 

[6gunner]

Okay, let’s call it as it is. First of all 7 goals and 7 assists is great return-for Xhaka. Not for a midfielder playing given one of our five attacking lanes. If Havertz stays healthy, I would certainly expect him to surpass those goal contribution—and if he doesn’t it’s money poorly spent. When you look across our five attack lanes, Xhaka’s was, by far the least productive. Our two best passers—Ødegaard and Saka—play on the left so there are plenty of opportunities to score for those on the left. As fans it’s easy to think Xhaka made some massive improvements this year but he just played in a different position. Compared to other pivot midfielders, (his previous position) he was pretty average and, compared to other attacking midfielders (his current position), he was also pretty average. I appreciate his loyalty to the club, but if we are going to close the gap on City it’s pretty obvious what is the most important position to upgrade.

£21.5m is not bad for an almost 31-year old but kinda sad to see him go after his incredible last season, not to mention losing a legit leader in the team. Wish him all the best though.
Hope Declan will be able to step up to the required level to make up for this loss.

 

[db10_therza]

Going to end up missing him (who would have thought??)… some incredibly frustrating moments for us, but ultimately ending it on a peak for us.

Consummate professional by all accounts, and at the very least always gave it 100%, which is all you can really ask.

Also, love that he flipped off the entitled abusers. Remember a lot of the tears on here afterwards

All the best to the man, hope he has success at his new club, and thanks for all the work put in day in and day out for us.

I only managed to watch 2 games at the emirates this season, and both times he was my motm by a distance. I think a lot of what he contributes doesn’t get picked up by the cameras. He was just consistently where he needed to be. His game intelligence is peak, and I’m a bit sad we’re losing that. I feel like he was someone who could’ve carried on contributing off the pitch.

That being said 21.5m is mad money for him so yeah, laterz brev.

 

[Red London]

Top professional, really turned it around which is so commendable. He was my favourite player for large stretches of last season so its sad to see him go. But what a send off he had on the last game of the season.

£21.5m is good business, its the kind of fee Chelsea would have gotten in this scenario. Great business from Edu extracting maximum value.

 

[El Duderino]

I once described him as a hill no manager should die on, that changed a lot and credit to Arteta for getting the actual best out of him this season.

Think the football he displayed the past 12 months is on another level then anything he ever did for us before it.

It did paper over some of the cracks he's had during his tenure here, which were plenty, but I'm glad he gets to leave on a high.

 

[Blood on the Tracks]

His last 12-18 months or so were excellent. Fair play to him, most would have cracked under the pressure or ran off somewhere else. He's a very strong character.

I'm not knocking him but most of his time here was pretty underwhelming for one reason or another, If we're being honest. I'd have been happy to see the back of him.

He's turned it around and will leave with quite a lot of affection from most Arsenal fans, so that's nice. I'd happily have him back in a coaching capacity in the future.

Best of luck to him at Leverkusen.

 

[Blankety Blank]

Le

I only managed to watch 2 games at the emirates this season, and both times he was my motm by a distance. I think a lot of what he contributes doesn’t get picked up by the cameras. He was just consistently where he needed to be. His game intelligence is peak, and I’m a bit sad we’re losing that. I feel like he was someone who could’ve carried on contributing off the pitch.

That being said 21.5m is mad money for him so yeah, laterz brev.

This
His off the ball defensive work was very good. Highly doubt Havertz or ESR as a left 8 is gonna get near that.
Tbf Havertz is a good presser & both may get you more goals.
Unless Rice is superman at 6 or playing as an 8 with a quality 6 behind you do worry we will get exposed, especially against the top teams?

Perhaps there may be a system change or tweak somewhere?

 

[Legend14]

Goodbye Granit's Stan,
Though he never knew you at all
You had the nerve to post nonsense
Like you knew football
You crawled out of the woodwork
Using multiple different accounts
And now it's Leverkusen-Mania
Where your psycho posts will mount

And it seems to me, you live your life
Like a stalker in the hedge
Rumbling through his rubbish
This transfer had you on edge
And we would've liked to know you
Maybe as a football fan
But here at A-M you're only
Granit Xhaka's Stan

Talent here.

 

[db10_therza]

Unless Rice is superman at 6 or playing as an 8 with a quality 6 behind you do worry we will get exposed, especially against the top teams?

My hope is that Arteta is planning on deploying a variety of formations and tactics next year now that he’s got planA down pat. It’s what the signings seem to suggest as well as they can perform multiple roles. So I’d expect more of a traditional double pivot against big teams.

Let’s see

 

[Red London]

On the topic of the transfer fee, if we can get out a couple more players for good fees like this, then we are going to really recover a lot of funds this window. If we can get £30m+ for Balogun and get solid fees for the likes of Pepe and Holding our net spend will shoot down... maybe it will make space for another big signing, who knows these days with us.

 

[GoonerJeeves]

On the topic of the transfer fee, if we can get out a couple more players for good fees like this, then we are going to really recover a lot of funds this window. If we can get £30m+ for Balogun and get solid fees for the likes of Pepe and Holding our net spend will shoot down... maybe it will make space for another big signing, who knows these days with us.

While getting a good return on sales would be a novelty, it could help that some of those players are on moderate wages. Balogun being one example.

It might be a different story with Pepe.

 

[Red London]

While getting a good return on sales would be a novelty, it could help that some of those players are on moderate wages. Balogun being one example.

It might be a different story with Pepe.

With Pepe I would be happy with £10-15m and his wages cleared off the books. Surprised Milan arent looking at him instead of Pulisic. I think he could do well in Italy.

 

[2Smokeyy]

On the topic of the transfer fee, if we can get out a couple more players for good fees like this, then we are going to really recover a lot of funds this window. If we can get £30m+ for Balogun and get solid fees for the likes of Pepe and Holding our net spend will shoot down... maybe it will make space for another big signing, who knows these days with us.

Fee? I can’t see it. We’d be lucky to get a loan for him in this window just to get his wages off the books

He’ll probably run down his contract as it’s up next summer then some team in Ligue 1 will pick him up. Holding is just here for the vibes, can’t see him leaving.

 

[GoonerJeeves]

With Pepe I would be happy with £10-15m and his wages cleared off the books. Surprised Milan arent looking at him instead of Pulisic. I think he could do well in Italy.

We might even have to pitch in with a wage contribution, I fear.

I'd not be surprised if we fail to move him on permanently.

 

[Oxeki]

The team is going to miss him massively.

Even those who want him gone too.