The Story Back Then

Granit Xhaka made great news when he lost his cool and abused the home team fans at the Emirates stadium. The incident occurred when Unai Emery replaced the Gunners captain with winger Bukayo Saka, in search for a goal in the 61st minute against Crystal Palace. Arsenal fans kept jeering at the 27-year-old as he walked off. Apparently Xhaka had reached his ‘boiling point’ and responded by cupping his ears. He didn’t stop there, but also abused a section of supporters before taking his shirt off. Arsenal boss, Emery had stripped the midfielder of the captaincy and appoint Aubameyang as the leader.

Later, the Swiss international player released an open apology talking about the sorrowful events that happened to him including plenty of death threats received by his family. “People have said things like, ‘We will break your legs’, ‘Kill your wife’ and ‘Wish that your daughter gets cancer’. He also added, “That has stirred me up and I reached a boiling point when I felt the rejection in the stadium on Sunday.”

Now Xhaka comes back after the refreshing international break and will surely be looking forward to playing football in peace.”He is coming back better in his mind, his mindset is better to help us and to be closer to playing when we need him,” Unai said as he spoke to the press. The Gunners boss, however, gave no guarantee of the midfielder making into the squad in their Saturday tie against Southampton.

“We are going to decide tomorrow but I want to do that comeback, give him confidence and make him comfortable,” he said. “And when we can connect with our supporters with a good moment and a good performance and being strong with them.”

The eighth-ranked team have been winless in their last four Premier League matches and will be looking to turn fortunes by keeping a positive mindset.

“We know it will not take a short time but that is our goal and our challenge now is to reduce the distance, little by little, and starting on Saturday and that match is very important,” the Spaniard said.

Recent Return To The First Team

Xhaka made his return to the first-team in the Europa League match against Eintracht Frankfurt, in Emery’s last match in charge of the club. He put in a good, committed performance and was even appreciated for his efforts, by the Emirates crowd. The Spaniard also thanked the club’s faithful for their support towards their former skipper.

However, the Gunners ended up losing 1-2 at home to the German side. The result was unacceptable and the Spaniard was sacked. Despite that, there were quite a few positives from the game, including the Xhaka performance.

With that being said, it will be interesting to see now, how the fans respond to the Swiss international. The midfielder has seen quite a few ups and downs in recent times and things are getting quite interesting for him. He is possibly expected to leave in January, though that could now change, with Emery gone. Only time will tell.