The Gunners have been flying high this season under Martin Odegaard, with the side currently at the top of the Premier League standings. However, it seems like not every Arsenal skipper was as lucky as the Norwegian. In an interview, the former Arsenal skipper Granit Xhaka talked about the disrespect he got from the club despite leading the side.
It is not the first incident in which the Gunners have had an issue with their club captain. Before Xhaka, the club had a well-documented split with ex-star Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who was stripped of his captaincy last and was shipped out of the club just a week later.
Granit Xhaka speaks on his final years at Arsenal!
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Arsenal has never had it easy when it comes to club captains. While Norwegian midfielder Martin Odegaard has done a marvelous job so far leading the side, his predecessors haven’t had the same luck. In an interview, Swiss soccer star Granit Xhaka discussed his time as the Arsenal captain.
🔴⚪️ Xhaka: “Arsenal showed me little respect even though I was the captain. It was clear they wanted to get rid of me — apart from one person: Arteta”.
“With my heart & soul, I had already left the club. Mikel told me he wanted me to stay”, tells @honigstein @TheAthleticFC. pic.twitter.com/UkzxrJ9J1E
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) December 19, 2023
Xhaka stated, “Arsenal showed me little respect, even though I was the captain. It was clear they wanted to get rid of me — apart from one person: Arteta. With my heart and soul, I had already left the club. Mikel told me he wanted me to stay.”
The fan treatment did not go well with Xhaka, who made 297 appearances for the club during his seven years with the side. The Swiss star parted ways with the club earlier this year, deciding to join the German side Bayer Leverkusen.
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Granit Xhaka is not the first player who had issues with the club while leading the side. Before the Swiss star, a list of notable names at the club suffered in what fans have dubbed as “Arsenal’s captain’s curse” over the years.
Xhaka joins an unfortunate list of ex-Arsenal stars
William Gallas, Cesc Fàbregas, Laurent Koscielny, and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang have all been some of the best players for Arsenal over the years. However, no club fan wants to remember them for their respective captaincy stints. All four names were either forced out of the club or led a protest to find their way out of the club.
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Ex-Arsenal skipper Granit Xhaka has also found himself on the unfortunate list, as the player ended his seven-year partnership with the club earlier this year. Arsenal has never had it easy when it comes to their captains. However, it seems like the club might have found their man in Martin Odegaard, with the Norwegian leading the club to the best of his abilities in the past two seasons.
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