Arsenal will offer counseling and other supportive measures to club captain Granit Xhaka as talks on if he should remain as captain or not continue after he swore at home fans.

It can be recalled that the 27-year-old Switzerland international cupped his ears and told supporters to f**k off as they jeered him when he was being substituted in the 2 all draw against Crystal Palace at the Emirates on Sunday.

He also snubbed an attempted handshake from boss Unai Emery and took off his jersey before heading for the tunnel. Since then, reports suggest that he has held three meetings with Unai Emery, with the club prioritizing his welfare over any quick decision on his captainship of the team.

It is believed that Xhaka’s outburst was due to cumulative issues that have built up over time, including social media posts which targeted his family. His wife Leonita set her Instagram profile to private due to abusive messages targeted at her husband.

Meanwhile, the player raised eyebrows after he changed his Instagram picture where he was sporting the Arsenal armband to one where he wore a Swiss jersey with the captain’s armband.

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Xhaka has been told about the benefits of apologizing for his action but the player is not in the right frame of mind do so presently. Regardless, Unai Emery and the players have rallied behind the player despite the numerous criticisms he has received.

When Emery was asked if Xhaka would lose his captain’s armband for his action, the Spaniard replied: “At the moment, I am not speaking and I don’t want to speak about that”.

“He is upset, devastated and sad. It is not only yesterday and today. He is feeling the supporters don’t like him.

“His commitment with the club is a great commitment every time. He wants to help.

“His behaviour was perfect in training, with the group and with the club. He knows he was wrong.

“He was wrong and he feels it inside very deeply. But that is normal as a human.”

“I spoke to him this morning about him only, his personal moment,” added the Spaniard.

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“I don’t need his apology. Because I know he is devastated, we can speak about all the situation but first it’s him.

“He is now very down and we need to support him. I don’t need his apology to me now.”

Emery also disclosed that he spoke to club director Josh Kroenke immediately after the game and they agreed that the player’s action was wrong. However, they want to see the player win back the trust of the club’s supporters.

“My ideal future is to watch again Xhaka playing and every supporter supporting him,” he said.

“This is my ideal. I don’t know if I can or will achieve it but this is my ideal. Also for him it’s the same but also I think we need now to be calm step by step so we can progress.

“But my idea is to achieve a big connection collectively and individually with the supporters.

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“We can maybe remind some similar situations in the past for players, and they came back.

“For example, I was speaking with Hector Bellerin and he said to me that he received some criticism three years ago at Emirates Stadium in one moment because people weren’t happy with his performance and then he came back.

“The most important is to keep moving ahead, working, improving and showing and transmitting to people that if one moment they don’t like him, to work to change that situation.

“I don’t know not today how it will be in the future, the most important for me is the present.”

Meanwhile, Xhaka will play no part in the Carabao Cup game against Liverpool at Anfield on Wednesday, although Emery insisted that the decision to leave him at home was already made before the incident on Sunday.