Granit Xhaka may be a Sunderland hero right now, but his affinity with Arsenal runs deep, even in spite of one major incident six years ago.Sunderland fans are loving Xhaka at the moment, with the Swiss midfielder coming in this summer and making a huge impact for the Black Cats.He’s their captain and the beating heart of the Sunderland midfield. But, Xhaka has an emotional reunion with Arsenal on the horizon this weekend. Click to subscribe to the podcast His time at Arsenal was full of ups and downs, including a slew of disciplinary problems and one unsavoury moment that caused uproar among the Gunners’ faithful.Photo by David Price/Arsenal FC via Getty ImagesGranit Xhaka explains fan fallout at ArsenalUnder Unai Emery, Xhaka had been made Arsenal captain. Not long after, though, he was substituted in a game against Crystal Palace, and fans let him know how unimpressed they were with him.That led to the combative midfielder removing his Arsenal shirt and visibly swearing at the supporters in the stands as he stormed down the tunnel. Not ideal, obviously, and in an interview with The Athletic this week, he’s addressed just how serious the incident was.He said: “I call it a misunderstanding between myself and the fans. It was bigger than that, absolutely, for sure. I don’t need to lie about it; everyone knows the story. I still don’t know what exactly happened this day and why, let’s say that.”Emery was sacked shortly after and Mikel Arteta took over. But, Xhaka didn’t think he would be working with the Spaniard for very long at all, as he reveals he was ready to walk away from Arsenal right there and then, before Arteta stopped him.He added: “When Mikel came, he had a very open conversation with myself. My luggage was already [packed]. I was ready to leave. I already had a contract on the table from another football club.“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.”Xhaka spoke about Arteta’s first day at Arsenal in that same interview, revealing how much of an impression he made on the players immediately. By the sounds of it, he really struck a chord with Xhaka in particular.Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty ImagesMikel Arteta made Granit Xhaka a calmer playerXhaka is seen as a key leader at Sunderland under Regis Le Bris, but he would probably never have been that person were it not for Arteta.Explaining the profound change he went through after Arteta arrived, particularly when it comes to discipline, Xhaka said: “It’s a big, big thing; 2019, it’s nearly seven years now, I was 26, 27. Maybe at [that age] you have some people who are more mature, maybe I wasn’t — not every day, let’s say that.“I didn’t have doubts about myself, about the quality, about how professional I needed to be — because I was — but there were these little mistakes, yellow cards, red cards. Silly red cards, where you don’t need to… but Mikel, he changed it.”Since that moment in 2019, Xhaka’s disciplinary record has certainly improved. In 2019/20, he picked up 13 yellow cards. The following season, it was just eight yellows and a red. SeasonYellow cardsRed cards2024/25702023/24702022/23802021/221022020/21812019/201302018/191302017/181202016/17122Granit Xhaka disciplinary recordFast forward even further, especially during his time in Germany and it’s just as low. Last season, with Bayer Leverkusen, Xhaka picked up just eight bookings across the whole campaign, and seven the season before that.Compare that to 2016/17 when he was shown 12 yellow cards and two red cards, and it’s a totally different person, really. And, with that more composed and mature head, Xhaka has undoubtedly become a far better player, too; he’s now able to influence games and those around him rather than being someone who, at times, was capable of letting the team down with his petulance.