There were so many things that seemed uncertain about Arsenal and what the future held for them in recent months.
One thing that seemed completely stuck on what Granit Xhaka’s departure from Arsenal. He seemed like an unpopular choice as captain to begin with, but then came that game against Crystal Palace where he gestured and swore at the fans, blanked his manager and threw an almighty strop as he left the pitch.
A report from The Daily Star shortly after the game indicated that the midfielder had been told that his Arsenal career was over.
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His exit seemed even more certain when Sky Sports ran a report a few days ago where his agent seemed to suggest the midfielder had agreed terms with Hertha Berlin to return to The Bundesliga, with talks ongoing between the clubs over a fee.
Despite all of this, it seems that he’s done enough to win over Mikel Arteta and his future will lie with Arsenal. These comments from the manager after tonight’s game suggest he’s going nowhere:
Arteta on Xhaka’s future: “Granit? I think he is going to stay.” Adds that Xhaka has told him he won’t leave.
— James Olley (@JamesOlley) January 1, 2020
It won’t be the first time we’ve seen a new manager come in and turn round the fortunes of a player who was previously out of favour, but this would be especially incredible when you consider everything that’s happened recently.
We might have to wait until the window closes to be completely sure of this, but it certainly looks like Xhaka will be at The Emirates for a while yet.