19 December 2023 , 23:03
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Granit Xhaka told Mikel Arteta that he no longer wanted to be booed by Arsenal fans and was ready to leave before the Spaniard convinced him to perform a dramatic U-turn and stay.
The Swiss midfielder left the Emirates Stadium earlier this year by joining Xabi Alonso's revolution at German side Bayer Leverkusen. His exit brought a roller-coaster seven-year spell at Arsenal to an end.
Xhaka had seen the club captaincy stripped from him after a tense showdown with Gunners supporters and looked set to leave the club. He had ambitions of leaving in 2019 when Arteta arrived but the Spaniard managed to convince him to stay after a truth-filled heart-to-heart.
As quoted by The Athletic, Xhaka said: "I had many black days, sitting in my hotel room for away games, realising what had happened... I was completely devastated.
“The club showed me little respect even though I was the captain. It was clear they wanted to get rid of me as quickly as possible, apart from one person: Mikel Arteta.
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“When I met him for the first time, my bags were already packed and I was about to hop on a plane. With my heart and soul, I had already left the club. I said to him, ‘The solution is for me to go’. Mikel told me he wanted me to stay."
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Opening up about the treatment he received from Arsenal fans, the midfielder added: “I could not imagine myself playing for Arsenal again. I said to him, ‘I just want to be somewhere where the fans don’t boo me’.
"But he was so convincing. For the first time in my life, I took a decision without talking to my family first. I got up and said, ‘OK, I’ll stay’. We embraced and, from that day on, I returned to training and it was like nothing ever happened.”
Xhaka’s decision to stay with the club proved to be a genius move from the Swiss. He arguably enjoyed his best form during his final campaign in North London.
Xhaka scored nine goals in all competitions last term - the most prolific campaign of his career - as Arsenal challenged for the Premier League crown. He has not quite managed to keep up that form for Bayer Leverkusen and is still yet to score his first goal for the club.
That has not hampered the German side’s form at all with Xabi Alonso’s side sitting four points clear at the top of the Bundesliga after an unbeaten start to the season. Xhaka has made 22 appearances in all competitions for his new employers. His contract with Leverkusen runs until the summer of 2028.