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Former Arsenal captain Granit Xhaka returns to emirates Stadium on Saturday with his high-flying Sunderland Black Cats. It will be could to see him on the emirates pitch again, but this time in different colors.
There was a time when Xhaka’s name was spat out by Arsenal fans like a curse. The midfielder, brought in from Borussia Mönchengladbach in 2016 to add steel and control to Arsène Wenger’s evolving side, instead became a lightning rod for frustration. Rash tackles, red cards, and that infamous moment — cupping his ears to the jeering Emirates crowd after being booed off against Crystal Palace in 2019 — seemed to mark the end. Captain stripped, reputation shredded. Most thought he was finished.
But football, like life, has a way of folding back on itself. Under Mikel Arteta, Xhaka found not just redemption, but reinvention. Shifted higher up the pitch, liberated from the burden of being Arsenal’s sole defensive sentinel, he became a conduit of energy and authority. The same fire that once burned bridges now ignited performances. His left foot, always elegant, began to carve out goals and assists. His presence steadied a young team learning how to win again.
By the time Arsenal’s 2022–23 title challenge lit up the league, Xhaka was no longer the scapegoat — he was the heartbeat. When he waved goodbye at the Emirates that May, there were no boos. Only applause, warmth, and a recognition that this was a player who had fought his way back from the edge.
Granit Xhaka’s Arsenal story is one of defiance and evolution — a reminder that redemption, in football as in life, is rarely simple but always earned.
Chgeers.
Gunner1953