Tomorrow’s game against Sunderland is an important one for Arsenal in the title race, and one with a large side-helping of ‘narrative’ as we come face to face with former Gunner Granit Xhaka.
The Swiss international left the club in 2023 to join Bayer Leverkusen, winning the Bundesliga title under Xabi Alonso, helping them to unbeaten in the league for the entire campaign.
His move to Sunderland this summer raised a few eyebrows, but the 31 year old has had a huge impact on the Black Cats and their great start to the season.
Unsurprisingly Mikel Arteta was asked about his relationship with Xhaka, and the history they shared together. In an interview with The Athletic this week, Xhaka said Arteta made him a better player and a better person, and the Arsenal manager reciprocated by referencing the difficult situation he inherited when he first took over as boss after the Crystal Palace substitution incident.
“I loved every minute that we spent together,” said Arteta.
“When I joined, he was in a special moment of his life and his career. Between all of us, we tried to guide him, to give him a different perspective, to make him feel loved, valued and he responded in an incredible way.
“He made me a better coach. He helped us to develop and improve a lot as a football team and as a club. I will be eternally grateful because I have great memories with him.”
And on the decision to allow him to leave, despite his experience being of potentially important use for then a relatively young side, he continued, “It wasn’t obviously an easy decision because I knew the impact that he could still have at the club and the team.
“But then when you have one of those leaders as well, you need to have him in the right frame of mind and fully committed and him feeling that this is the best place for him.
“And Granit, when he expressed his idea, the reasons why he believed it was better now, after everything that we went through together, to take another challenge, it really made me think whether it was the right thing again to try to persuade him to stay if he was having already such a deep feeling about it.
“It was a unique opportunity for him to come back to his country, to his family and there were certain things he wanted to experience as well.
“I believe it was the right moment. He was very honest as he is, very straightforward as he always is. We found a good solution for all of us.”
#### Read today’s Arseblog about Arteta and Xhaka: [Two former captains, two ‘killer instincts’](https://arseblog.com/2025/11/two-former-captains-two-killer-instincts/)