The summer of 2023 was a landmark period for Arsenal. It signalled the arrival of a certain Declan Rice no less.
The midfielder arrived in a club-record £105m move. The Gunners had beaten Manchester City to his services, thus securing the talents of one of England's finest players of his generation.
Declan-Rice-Arsenal-Burnley
Since he moved across London from West Ham to Islington, there has still been a feeling that Arsenal have missed a player of the calibre of a certain Granit Xhaka.
Over the last year, in particular, Rice has eradicated memories of the Swiss warrior but their Arsenal stories are woven together.
Granit Xhaka in action for Arsenal
The year Rice arrived, Xhaka left and in perhaps peculiar circumstances. The veteran had just enjoyed the finest individual campaign of his time at the Emirates Stadium, scoring nine goals in all competitions.
No longer was he the defensive midfielder that a great Arsene Wenger once signed. He was now a goalscoring number 8.
After departing, Xhaka enjoyed a fabulous time under Xabi Alonso at Bayer Leverkusen, where he won the Bundesliga but he's now back in England and proving to be one of the signings of the summer.
How Xhaka inspired Sunderland to a draw with Arsenal
Over the last few years the newly promoted teams have been swept aside without so much as a noise. To put it frankly, they've been terrible.
However, Sunderland are bucking that trend. Ahead of Sunday's fixtures in the Premier League, they sat fourth in the table and a large reason for that has been the performances of Xhaka.
Xhaka-Sunderland
The Switzerland midfielder signed for the Mackems in a £17m deal back in the summer and was swiftly made club captain. His displays since then have been admirable.
Sky Sports analyst and Sunderland supporter Dougie Critchley went as far as to say he is the "best player" he's ever seen in the famous red and white strips after his goal against Everton last week.
While Xhaka did not find the net against Arsenal on Saturday, it was another fine display from Sunderland's tempo-setting midfielder.
Xhaka is a warrior, a leader of men and he demonstrated that by completing 90% of his passes, winning four of his five ground duels and completing seven clearances this weekend.
Xhaka vs Arsenal
Minutes played
Touches
Accurate passes
Key passes
Shots
Fouled
Tackles won
Interceptions
Clearances
Recoveries
Ground duels won
Aerial duels won
Stats via Sofascore.
Dan Ballard and Brian Brobbey made the headlines but Xhaka issued Arsenal a timely reminder of his qualities.
Up against Rice and Martin Zubimendi, Arsenal's midfield pairing exudes similar qualities but they aren't the only men in Mikel Arteta's ranks who bring a Xhaka-like presence to the squad.
Arsenal's Granit Xhaka of 2025
The date is 28th October 2019. Unai Emery has chosen to substitute club captain, Xhaka. The response from Arsenal supporters inside the Emirates Stadium was remarkable.
He was booed and jeered as he left the field, which sparked an eyebrow-raising reaction from the Swiss. He cupped his ear, asked for more and then chucked the captain's armband on the floor.
It was not a surprise to see that he was stripped of the captaincy just ten days later.
Speaking about the incident back in 2023, Xhaka labelled the situation as a "nightmare". "The passports were out. I was done with Arsenal", he said.
xhaka-arsenal
He ultimately stayed and enjoyed a remarkable change in fortunes under Arteta. The Spaniard turned him into a more forward-thinking midfield and after a hellish first few years in London, enjoyed a fabulous 2022/23 season, in particular.
That was the year Xhaka scored nine times and provided seven assists in all competitions.
The 33-year-old was still a vocal presence on the pitch and while he didn't possess the armband, he still felt like a captain on the pitch. In the present day, the same could be said of defender Gabriel Magalhaes.
Gabriel-Gyokeres-Arsenal
While the Brazilian hasn't fallen out with supporters since moving from Lille in a £27m move, their Arsenal careers certainly have parallels.
Gabriel headed to London as an exciting talent but he was still incredibly raw. He showcased that during his first few years in English football.
The centre-back was rash and truth be told, a bit error-prone. Rio Ferdinand was particularly scathing of the defender back in 2022.
"If you can just ghost through most games and put an eight out of 10 performance in you’re flying but every week he’s in the headlines or he’s in underneath with a little bullet point next to his name and a bad incident. I don’t know if you replace him. Sometimes someone with that energy, as much as you maybe call it a liability, he’s performing. Time will tell if he’s someone you want to stick by." - Rio Ferdinand.
It was an incident that led to a DM exchange between Gabriel and Ferdinand and since that moment, he has gone from strength to strength.
Gabriel-Arsenal-Burnley
Like Xhaka in his early days at Arsenal, the big Brazil international was a bit of an accident waiting to happen but they both enjoyed remarkable comebacks.
In the words of Jamie Carragher, Gabriel is now "the most influential player in the Premier League" this season and is in with a real shout of winning the PFA Player of the Year award if the Gunners win the league.
The defender has been a colossal presence in the heart of Arteta's backline, a true "monster" as per pundit Troy Deeney. He's a giant at the back, composed with the ball at his feet and has made a rather ridiculous impact from set-pieces.
So far this season, Gabriel has scored two goals and supplied three assists. Since joining in 2020, no centre-back in Europe's top five leagues has scored more goals than him (22).
Like Xhaka, he's also now one of the strongest commanders of men in the squad. He's captained Arsenal on several occasions now and to quote Carragher once more, he is "the leader" in Arteta's backline.
A midfielder he may not be, but he is certainly like Xhaka in plenty of ways. From being riddled with mistakes to becoming a cult hero at the Emirates, the parallels are certainly there.