A collector’s item and perhaps the foreshadowing of the English teams collapse in Europe, 2011 Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United were knocked out of the Champions League in the group stages. I’m sure that’s jogged a few memories and the more observant of football followers will remember that it was Basel that had sealed their fate, playing out a 2-1 win in front of their home fans at St Jakobs Park. It was the game that largely put Shaqiri on the map and earned him his move to Bayern Munich, he collected the plaudits and the headlines after the game and deservedly so.

Basel made it through to the round of 16 with that win and had drawn Bayern Munich in the latter stages of the competition and much of the talk was still about Shaqiri, which provoked this response from the former Basel manager Thorsten Fink “Shaqiri is the best talent in Switzerland… after Granit Xhaka”. Basel ended up beating Bayern 1-0 at home but their impressive run in the Champions League came to an end with a 7-0 defeat in the away fixture, and by the end of the summer transfer window, both Shaqiri and Xhaka had ventured into German football.

Despite numerous offers from across the Bundesliga, Granit Xhaka ended up at Borussia Monchengladbach signed by fellow countryman Lucien Favre for €8.5M at the tender age of 19. Even before he’d kicked a ball for Gladbach, Xhaka had shown maturity. Xherdan Shaqiri signed for Bayern Munich but Xhaka chose first team football above all else. Gladbach had finished fourth in the season prior to his arrival but the season before had only just survived relegation. After reaching the dizzying heights of the Champions League, the core of the team was picked at, players like Marco Reus, Roman Neustadter and Dante had left for Dortmund, Schalke and Bayern Munich respectively. Xhaka was brought in by Favre as a direct replacement for Neustadter and was offered two things, the chance to develop under Favre as the likes of Reus had done, and the first team football that Granit sought.

While joining Gladbach may have been plucky, Xhaka and the rest of the team encountered problems. The season started with a win at home to Hoffenheim but subsequent to the transfer window plundering, 3 points where hard to come by and by the 12th game of the season the team had amassed exactly 4 wins 4 draws and 4 defeats lumbering to 11th in the League. Xhaka, who was playing every game, found it difficult to cope in particular but understandably wasn’t on the same wavelength as his teammates, as is often the case when a rebuild has taken place.

The squad was relatively threadbare but Favre was still chopping and changing in a bid to find the balance of players best for the system but also to cope with the demands of playing both domestic and European football. Neustadter who Xhaka came in to replace was usually partnered with former Arsenal youth captain Nordtveit but his poor disciplinary record and bad luck with injuries meant that Xhaka had a multitude of midfield partners and was never really able to settle. Eventually he was dropped, his performances suffered. He had arrived from Basel with an attitude problem and when he saw the words relegation in the media he panicked.

After sitting out for a few games, Xhaka got the message. Loud and clear. The rest as they say is history and he hasn’t looked back since, I think it’s important to highlight that it wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows, he didn’t have a fairy tale start and had to work hard to get where he is now. It taught him that having talent without the hard work will always amount to nothing, he owes a lot to Lucien Favre and this decision is a major influence in what Xhaka is today.

Currently captaining Gladbach, Xhaka has played pretty much every game possible since then and has established himself within the top tier of the Bundesliga. He’s often compared to Schweinsteiger and granted there are a lot of similarities but he’s a lot more like Xabi Alonso. He’s built, assured in all areas of the defensive part of the game and can turn defence into attack in the blink of an eye. His passing range is amongst the best in the league and his 85% pass accuracy is the second best in the team which is quite something given the way he is required play. Gladbach utilise the variation in his game and it doesn’t quite matter how Gladbach play, Xhaka always seems central to it all. Operating as an anchor man who’s required to sit and sit only while dictating play, from playmaking in midfield to a box to box role, Xhaka seems to take it all in his stride. He even plays number 10 for the Swiss national team such is the completion he possesses as a midfielder.

His best position however is without a doubt in the defensive areas, he’s able to tackle and intercept with both aggression and assurance but also turn defence into attack incredibly quick with his passing range and accuracy. His defensive ability is also aided by his level of understanding, he’s a very good reader of the game and after beating Bayern Munich in December had this to say regarding the team’s performance;

"We’re the first ones to play three at the back and one v one all over the pitch, forcing Bayern to play long balls".

Xhaka is also a professional and very ambitious, he’s not scared to say if things aren’t up to the standards or how he feels about. After a 5-0 defeat to Leverkusen Xhaka said "The performance today was a disaster. The first half was nothing, and the second even less". This highlights how seriously he’s taking the captain’s role and how well it will serve him going forward, in general being able to take responsibility not only for himself but also his teammates.

This in particular is something we’ve been missing at Arsenal and I think Granit Xhaka would be a perfect signing for that and a number of other reasons. A controlling presence from deep, be that with the ball or without, is something we’ve been crying out for – long before but especially after injuries to Coquelin and Cazorla turned our season to dust.

With the level of his completion in midfield however Xhaka isn’t bound to a particular system or partner and can bring back what we've missed in Mikel Arteta's absence. You would struggle to find a midfielder that he couldn't play with - he can be your Mikel Arteta to your Ramsey and your Coquelin to your Santi. This season he's been deployed in a number of different roles and systems making the transition seamlessly. From offering protection and purely sitting in front of the back in a 3-5-2 to playing higher up the pitch and being a metronome and keeping the team ticking in a 4-5-1. Xhaka knits it all together perfectly and his versatility is something we haven't seen in our midfield for a long, long time.

Xhaka has recently come out denying any discussions with Arsenal which seems to have cooled all speculation for now at least. However it isn’t too much to read into, it was as recently as February when he was saying;

"England is my dream. I do not hide it. Whether I’ll be happy there, only the good Lord knows. For me money is not important. Otherwise I would not move from Basel to Monchengladbach in 2012. It’s about being a big challenge for me as a footballer".

He has said as much countless other times and in January was also saying he’s open to a move but he is not going to sit on the bench for anyone. It bodes well for us that Xhaka isn’t interested in how much you can pay him or how many trophies he can win from the bench, this is a player that is interested in what’s important, and that’s playing football. If we are to sign Xhaka, Wenger is going to have to make sure he has his best poker face on though, Xhaka signed a new contract in February of last year and had a release clause inserted. It's for €30m and becomes active in the summer of 2017.

A release clause in an interesting one because it is needs all parties in agreement and I think both parties knew exactly what they were doing when a release clause was inserted. For Xhaka it highlights his ambition to move on and gives him some sort of guarantee that the club can't stand in his way should a suitor come. For Gladbach however, their history of selling quality young players for a fraction of the price is what they’re looking to avoid. Reus signed for Dortmund for €17M, Neustadter had gone for free and recently Marc Andre Ter Stegen ran a contract down to the final year then joined Barcelona for a measly fee of €12m. They'll be keen to avoid situations like this arising in the future as this is Gladbach’s business model buying and developing young players. If they stay, they stay and if they don’t they cash out and reinvest in the squad. They have a release clause in 2017 for Xhaka which guarantees what would be their highest ever transfer fee received, but what would be better for them is a sale after a good Euros and a bidding war.

So I think personally it comes down to how much we want Xhaka, there's a lot of variables as well that are difficult to anticipate. Interest from other teams could rocket up his price and I'm not going to try and second guess Wenger as to how interested he is in Xhaka. Failing a bidding war however I think we could sign Xhaka and with ease, £30m-£35m would be enough for Gladbach to hesitate.

Especially if we try and sort this transfer out early as it's in the interest of all parties involved, Arsenal would avoid an auction and Gladbach would have the funds to ready to reinvest early in the summer and be able to scout the Euros backed with some ammunition in their wallet. I'm interested but also excited to see how this one develops, if we do manage to sign Xhaka we’ll have plugged all our midfield problems with one transfer. Excited because this is what my ambitions are for Arsenal, our manager’s transfer policy has been under scrutiny for as long as he's been in charge and I'm in no way suggesting that signing Xhaka would ease all those criticisms. However it's exciting because this isn't shopping in the bargain basket or the refurbished goods section, for a player that's on the verge of world class status. This is walking straight in the jeweller’s and buying the latest diamond.