Former Arsenal midfielder Granit Xhaka has denied leaving the club for a transfer to Bayer Leverkusen because of his family preferring to leave London.
The Switzerland international was a key performer for the Gunners, becoming a hugely important part of Mikel Arteta’s side last season as they mounted a surprise Premier League title challenge.
However, Xhaka has now left the club to join Leverkusen, and he’s insisted it’s nothing to do with being pushed to leave by his family.
The 30-year-old insists he wanted a new challenge, and it seems he was tempted by the project at Leverkusen under exciting young manager Xabi Alonso.
“There was speculation everywhere that my wife was no longer happy in England. That is not at all true. The fact is that as a person I am always interested in new challenges,” he told Keystone-SDA, as quoted by Sport Witness.
“After seven years, the time has come for something completely new. The league is not new, but the club is. During the talks with Simon Rolfes [sporting director] and Xabi Alonso, I felt that the long-term project at Leverkusen was worthwhile and that it was 100% in line with me.”
Arsenal fans will surely be wishing Xhaka well whatever happens, as his turnaround at the Emirates Stadium was really quite spectacular after his career looked all but over a few years ago.
Xhaka famously gestured back at the club’s fans when they booed him off the pitch in a game in 2019, but he worked his way back into the side and showed some of the best form of his career in his final two years in north London.