Granit Xhaka Reveals What Made Him Stay at Arsenal After Dramatic Fallout with Fans in 2019

• Granit Xhaka admitted at some point, he was “not going to wear the Arsenal shirt anymore”
• The Swiss international had a row with fans in 2019 when he was substituted by his former manager Unai Emery
• He recently opened up on what eventually made him decide to stay with the Gunners

Arsenal midfielder Granit Xhaka recently opened up in a brutally honest interview on his decision to stay with the club in 2019 when it looked like his fallout with fans was the last straw.

Xhaka was on the verge of the end of his Arsenal career in 2019, when he was heavily jeered by his own fans during a game against Crystal Palace.

At the time, Unai Emery was Arsenal boss and upon taking Xhaka off in the game, the Swiss international reacted angrily, and wound up fans by sarcastically clutching at his ear and exchanging words with the Arsenal faithful.

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He was also caught on camera taking off his shirt and walking straight down the tunnel.

In an interview with BBC Sport, Xhaka opened up on the incident and his Arsenal career after the incident.

According to Xhaka, the arrival of Mikel Arteta changed everything.

"He (Arteta) is the reason why I'm still at this football club," he said.

."All of the club knows why I am still here, because three years ago I was gone.

"My suitcases were packed and finished, but I had a meeting with Mikel when he came. He wanted to hear my opinion about what had happened and I explained to him.”

The former Borussia Monchengladbach star is also of the opinion of having fans come to training sessions every week to see “how much the players care”.

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"It’s not like we waste our time here and only care about the 90 minutes. We care more than people think. Me, Aaron [Ramsdale] and others can’t sleep after a game when we lose. Nobody can see that, and it makes me disappointed and sad.” He went on.

Meanwhile, Arsenal got off to a decent start to their campaign as they saw off Crystal Palace 2-0 in their opening game on Friday, August 5 in a game which Xhaka was given the nod in midfield.

Gabriel Martinelli and Marc Guehi's own goal was enough to give Mikel Arteta's charges all three points on a night that Crystal Palace threatened severally to grab a point.

Mikel Arteta’s next game is against Leicester City at the Emirates on Saturday, August 13

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Elsewhere, A Chelsea fan made an uncanny observation during the Blues’ game against Everton on Saturday, August 6 through a viral clip.

In the clip, Sterling made his trademark run in behind the defence when the ball was deep in midfield, but his run was in vain as there was no indication that Jorginho would attempt the long pass.