Granit Xhaka reveals two conversations with Mikel Arteta as he makes Arsenal title prediction

Nearly two years since he left Arsenal, now Sunderland midfielder Granit Xhaka has opened up about two conversations he had with Mikel Arteta before leaving the Emirates

Granit Xhaka has opened up about the two conversations he had with Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta after the ex-Gunners captain seemingly burned his bridges at the Emirates Stadium. The Switzerland midfielder will be reunited with his old boss and team-mates for the first time since his surprise move to Sunderland this summer.

Xhaka, 33, departed the Gunners in the summer of 2023, where he moved to Bayer Leverkusen. But he looked destined for the exit door around four seasons prior, when he was substituted to cacophony of boos in north London and stripped off the captaincy after.

Any hope of a reconciliation between player and supporter base looked scant, as he was even refusing to apologise to the supporters for his reaction. However, the midfielder eventually won back his place and became a vital cog for Arteta, when he replaced Unai Emery in December 2019.

Looking back on how Arteta brought him in from the cold, the dynamic Black Cat had nothing but praise for the Gunners boss. In an interview with the Athletic, he said: "Mikel had two conversations with me and he convinced me to stay, to give me another chance.

"He wanted to show me that I am in the right place. From this day, I just had the feeling that every word he told me in this first conversation, everything was exactly like he said.

"That’s why I say that in 2019, when Mikel came, he changed me completely — as a human being, on the pitch, outside the pitch. But every year Mikel was doing new things, every year he brings something.

"And if you look at them in these first 10 games this season, they look very stable with and without the ball. I’m not surprised, I know how they work.”

When Arsenal finished second behind Manchester City in the 2022-23 campaign, Xhaka played in all but one of the north Londoners' Premier League clashes. Throughout his career at Arsenal, he made 297 appearances, scoring 23 times and registering 29 assists, winning two FA Cups in the process.

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