Arsenal could look to sell Granit Xhaka in January after outburst towards fans

According to the Mirror UK, Xhaka has been stripped of his captaincy by Unai Emery after his antics towards the Gunners faithful on October 27th against Crystal Palace and could be offloaded in January as a result.

Life hasn’t been the easiest for Arsenal’s former captain Granit Xhaka as of late. The Swiss international had a poor performance against Crystal Palace in late October and heard the displeasure from fans at the Emirates. Instead of being professional and ignoring the criticism, Xhaka decided to backlash at the supporters and flip them off, which led to a lot negative comments coming back his way. As a result of his reaction, the captain’s arm band has been given to Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. Xhaka hasn’t seen a minute of playing time since he was subbed off against Palace, which makes matters even worse for him.

As the captain of a giant club like Arsenal, there is absolutely no excuse to react the way Xhaka did. He needs to have thicker skin than that, especially considering he’s been a Gunner for three seasons now and considered one of the more experienced players on the squad. Just days after, Xhaka apologized to fans:

Emery is clearly not pleased with Xhaka, excluding him in their 1-1 draw against Vitoria in Europa League competition on Wednesday. All signs are pointing to his time being up in North London and Arsenal certainly don’t lack quality midfielders who can play his position. In an interview on Tuesday, Emery hinted that the Swiss midfielder could be sold in the new year.

"“The future is Arsenal’s future. We have a very important match on Saturday.”-Emery on Xhaka speculations"

Former Manchester United defender Gary Neville voiced his opinion to Omnisport on the Xhaka situation, claiming that it’s all part of the game and footballers need to learn how to deal with the criticm from club supporters.

"“All’s fair in love and war.”“[In games] against Liverpool they were singing about my mum. I wasn’t happy but it didn’t bother me. I was booed for 12 months for England as a Manchester United player, but you just accept it as part of the game.”-Neville on Xhaka antics"

Xhaka has played nine matches this year in the Premier League and tallied just one assist. Players like Bukayo Saka, Lucas Torreira, and Joe Willock have all shown well this year, proving they have what it takes to be in the starting XI for Unai Emery. Xhaka is a highly respected player by his peers and a natural leader in the clubhouse, but this latest saga seems hard to ignore. Reading his apology to the fans, it’s seems clear that he wants forgiveness though. Xhaka claims that he loves this club, so with time, his situation with the Gunners could get better.

It’s ultimately going to come down to Emery and the higher-ups, but it seems clear that his teammates are still fond of him remaining an Arsenal player. It will be interesting to see if Xhaka stays with the club or gets a fresh start in January elsewhere.