Granit Xhaka appears to have said his goodbyes to Borussia Monchengladbach today, after having helped his side to finish fourth in the Bundesliga this season.
The Foals captain has been one of the stand-out stars for his club in recent seasons, having joined from Basel back in 2012.
The Austrian international has been heavily linked with a switch to Arsenal in recent months, with club scouts believed to have followed him on a number of occasions. The move has been claimed to be all-but wrapped up a number of times, but his recent appearance has given the biggest hint of his exit yet.
Xhaka helped his side to win 2-0 today, and was given a standing ovation at the end of the match, and was spotted hugging a select number of the backroom staff. He also said after the game that he would like things to be dealt with quickly, although his exit will not come easy.
The midfielder said: “If there is a decision, departure will be tough but I had some great years in Gladbach.”
The star has previously been dubbed a ‘young Schweinsteiger’, a tag he will not want coming into the Premier League, given his counter-parts lacklustre season with United.
Xhaka looks likely to fill the void in the Gunners squad which is to be left by Mikel Arteta and Mathieu Flamini’s exit, which was confirmed this week.
Another midfielder linked with an early move to Arsenal is N’Golo Kante, who also plays in a similar role. Although both Arteta and Flamini are leaving, I still find it hard to believe that we would sign both players, especially given Mohamed Elneny’s signature in January, and the extremely positive impact he has been having since earning a first-team role.
Would you rather Kante or Xhaka in the squad? Do you think there is room for them both?
is Xhaka Austrian or swiss?…….. Getcha facts right!
SWISS dammit!
Get Xhaka deal wrapped up before Euros. Because after he shines for the Swiss, his price will double like it did with James Rodriguez!
Mario Götze is entering his final year Bayern. Not likely that he would extend his contract. His career has gone down hill ever since he moved. Time to snap him up!
Rest of the money we can invest on a deadly striker. Although with the sales of Debuchy, Walcott, Giroud, Campbell (we know Wenger doesn’t care for him!!) we should be able to get 2 forwards!
Lukaku, Milik, Yarmolenko, Higuain, Embolo, Batshuayi, Lacazette…?
@JuhisLihis……… Very Nice idea
would Love for Kante to stay at Leicester and help his team mates in next season’s UCL as well and the League
Gotze didn’t Learn from his best friend Marco Reus…..Had a good season with dortmund, then buzzed off to play for the bundesLiga cheats…..Look where he found himself today
Greed isn’t good!
Kante should stay another season with the Foxes….hopefully we’d know how good he is
I prefer Xhaka…
1) I don’t like the idea of poaching players from other “rival” clubs…and weakening them in the process to some degree…let Leicester show what they can do under more pressure & more games to play with the same squad.
2) Because Kante before this season wasn’t known & though he performed extremely well & was instrumental to his team success it is just 1 season…Xhaka was on the radar for at least the past 2
3) Because Kante is part of a collective success: Vardy, Mahrez & others added there piece to Leicester title charge. Xhaka, listening to German newspaper is everything for the black & white Borussia.
4) Xhaka has more physical attribute (EPL fit) & leadership skills than Kante (Captained his national team)…exactly what we need in the middle! And on top of it he has great technical skill to fit in the mould & not be a simple destroyer just like Kante & maybe more…
5) Now getting both would be too much to ask…specially with our already stacked midfield & with Elneny bright outings since trusted into a bigger role spell good things ahead of next season & with full preseason…even Coquelin is playing less!
6) I rather have a player from the youth set-up being integrated into the squad: Bielick or Zelalem would be nice!
How refreshing to hear that! Loyalty and not poaching. Totally agree that we should go for Xhaka because his club wants to sell and the player has probably needs fresh challenge (if not necessarily move upmarket). Kante has just been discovered by Leicester who deserve to have Kante’s services for a few years. From his point of view also he should stay where he is. He is in a very good team, excellent collection of talented hard working gelled team with an excellent manager (and a decent, nice person). They are very likely to do very well again this year unless they are broken up by poachers, probably better than us. So, no poaching please. Xhaka would do just as well for us, maybe best paired with Elneny in my opinion. Then we should promote youngsters, Bielik etc from within ( if they are not good enough to be given the opportunity they should move elsewhere). Replace those in our recruitment team who have regularly failed to discover Kantes , Mahreses, Kane’s, Allis, … So that other teams are envious of our own discoveries. AND, select players on merit (Cambell for example) not based on the colour of their eyes.
Xhaka is everything we need & is a quicker Xabi Alonso in my opinion! Physical, high IQ, leadership skills & above all else the technical ability to move past players or alternate between those long/short passes…
I really don’t know why Kante would like to move from Leicester who is on the up! He is a regular & will only grow, with the new TV deal, extra revenue from winning the EPL & commercial deals that comes with being a champion they will probably add quality to there squad. They were looking for Ousmane Dembele from league 1 who ultimately signed with Dortmund but expect them to do there share of business in the summer! As they will have more pressure & games to deal with next season
Read one post about how Xhaka will fit Arsenal better than Kante. Essentially, Kante doesn’t play as your typical DM and as a B2B he doesn’t register many assists and create chances. He’s more suited to counter attacking teams which Arsenal isn’t. Xhaka meanwhile will slot straight into the DM role for Arsenal. Possibly to pair him with El Nenny, Cazorla or Wilshere.
^Besides, Xhaka being 185 cm of height compared to Kante’s 174 cm, I believe Xhaka would bring in physical presence/intimidation we’ve been lacking since… Vieira? We have Coquelin, who’s quite short for a defensive midfielder but he possesses same qualities as Kante. Let us not forget his last season revelation in tackling and intercepting. Having variation of midfielders is only a positive thing for us.
If not Xhaka then surely Krychowiak!
The fact that Xhaka haven’t been linked with another club makes me believe he is Arsenal bound..
If he turns out good for us, I don’t think we will have problems in our midfield in the next 3years…
Coq:24
Xhaka:23
Elneny:23
Wilshere:24
Ramsey:25…
And of course Cazorla who may leave in the next 2 years…and then we have Toral and Bielik to step up especially Toral..
I hope we sign Xhaka, I really hope so..
@goonerboy
They’re all at great ages, like you say, but you can knock Ramsey and Wilshere off that list. Ramsey consistently under performs, and Wilshere cannot be relied on because of his horrendous injury record.
Can’t wait to have Santi back though, and I agree with you, another two years is about right. I would also like to see Toral given a chance.
Not a fan of Ramsey and I hope someone else gets a start tomorrow. I’ve seen enough of him this season and he left me even less impressed. In my eyes he’s a one season wonder but for some reason he keeps getting picked to start. Wilshere may have suffered some injuries in the past but I’d start him over Ramsey all day when fit. If not Wilshere then let’s see Cazorla one more time in that role since it’s the last game. Even Elneny makes the starting 11 over Ramsey for me not to mention we have 3 players who might get a farewell shot tomorrow.
The name Ramsey just makes me sick
It should be incorporated into a dictionary to mean “Favouritsm” or “Average”
It’s a mystery how he’s still on our books. He should have gotten the Podolski treatment, benched until he has no choice but to leave. It makes me think we had to put up with players like this for the sake of making the homegrown quota. Funny Pogba was considered a homegrown player and FREE when he left United and look at him now. We gamble too much on the wrong players. It’s full time to be brave and let Ramsey and Co. go. I rather see newly promoted Iwobi on the pitch than Ramsey.
Strange. Back in 2012 I criticized Wenger for constantly starting Ramsey when he had many far better options. I just wanted Ramsey to EARN his way on the pitch. That was all.
Of course I was attacked mercilessly for daring to utter such Arsenal heresy. Fans treated Ramsey like young teenagers treat their favorite teen heart-throb. Now it is all in the open and accepted among most fans.
In the end, however, unless Wenger leaves, I don’t think the Ramsey issue will be resolved. He will always play. The fans, good football, and winning will all take a back seat to Wenger favoritism.
I think yous do go much too hard on Ramsey. I’m not saying he hasn’t been porr this season, we had many poor players and performances this season. Yous won’t admit it, but he can be judged wrong at times and be made a punching bag. Iv seen him have performances even this season when he’s been easily one of our best players, yet some people on here seemed oblivious to it. When Ramsey plays poor I am one of the first to let rip, but when he plays well it seems I am one of the very few to mention it. Sometimes he can be somewhere in the middle there, and if Coq or Alexis were to cost us the points more so than any, yes it’s Ramsey who will feel the brunt. Yous do talk about favortism allot, there is another side to that coin. But yous cant see it. When Ramsey is on song he is one of the few players capable of tuning into Ozil’s wavelength. Add some consistency, and we might have a bit of a talent on show. This is probably what Arsene envisaged.
Will be interesting to see what happens with a midfield of Xhaka, Elneney, Coquelin, Wilshere, Ramsey, Cazorla and Ozil. I’d imagine Arsene being Arsene, he’ll end up sticking one, or even two on the wings. Lets hope that’s not the case.
ThirdManJW..
You see, I was thinking if we add xhaka to our midfield then it will be too much and some will not play…
But I was wrong,if our injury curse strikes,the whole midfield might just get injured at the same(God forbid)…especially Wilshere and Ramsey.
And then Elneny will also leave for AFCON and when he comes back we can’t rush him..
So we need to be well prepared and I believe we are prepared IF we sign Xhaka
And concerning Toral,he might be ready for the step up..
Agree with comments regarding Toral, Bielik etc, let them cut their teeth. Also agree with comments on both Ramsey and Wilshire. In my opinion Ramsey is a liability. He is careless when he tries to dribble out from our 18-yard line and reckless in defensive duties; and Wilshere is a luxury (and seems only capable of cameo appearances unfortunately).
If Wenger is serious about leaving on a high note, he must buy the following players:
1. John Stones- Cheaper now due to his poor 2015/16 season and we take him away from Chelsea
2. Riyad Mahrez- Sell Walcott and add this dynamic great dribbler to our RW
3. Gonzalo Higuain- 37 goals this season for Napoli, enough said!
Even if they cost upwards of 100 million for these three players we certainly need them to compete for the title next year.
If Walcott is staying, we may still get another winger/CF with Danny injured
unless Wenger is happy with Alexis, Giroud, Theo, Oxlade, Campbell, Sanogo, Akpom
My preference would be to sell Theo, Ox and Sanogo
and get a CF (like Lukaku, Higuain, Lewandowski, Morata) and a winger like (Greizmann, Reus)
Release Rosicky, Arteta and Flamini
Sign Xhaka and another DM
Promote Bielik
If either Gibbs and/or Debuchy is sold get a rb and or lb
And get a top quality CB
That’s it. Job done
But we need at the bare minimum Top CF, Top CB, RB and another quality DM
Xhaka, fantastic long range shots and passes.
Xhaka stated yesterday he wants his transfer done before the euros.But with dithering wenger who knows what might happen