Emirates row and fantastic resurgence: 7 events that shaped insane year for Xhaka as he turns 28

🔴 Emirates antics

• The Arsenal crowd jeered on the Swiss international as he was coming off in the second half against Palace in late October.
• Xhaka took off his Arsenal shirt and told the fans to "f*** off".
• He then apologised for the incident, saying he "reached the boiling point" after receiving abuse on social media.

🔴 Captaincy strip

• Before the October outburst, Granit was Arsenal's captain, yet Unai Emery decided to replace him with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
• "I had a meeting with him and told him he is no longer in the captain's group. He accepted my decision," said the Basque in November.

🔴 Return to the pitch

• Soon after confirming Xhaka was no longer Arsenal captain, Emery started him in the Europa League clash against Frankfurt.
• It took a month for Granit to start playing for the Gunners again.
• Funnily enough, Emery was finally dismissed the morning after the game.
• The Swiss international then continued getting regular starts under Freddie Ljungberg.

🔴 Arteta's appointment

• By the end of December, it was expected the midfielder would still leave Arsenal in the transfer window.
• Yet Mikel Arteta said that persuading Xhaka to stay would be his primary goal.
• And the boss did exactly that, stating in January that Granit had "changed his mind" after several conversations with the Spaniard.

🔴 Resurgence under Arteta

• Granit has become a mainstay in Arsenal's midfield under Mikel Arteta. The manager allowed him to drop deeper so he can use his long-range passing more often.
• Even before lockdown, he took part in 7 Gunners' Premier League games under the Spaniard, missing just one game (2-1 loss to Chelsea) due to illness.
• In fact, his smart positioning allowed Bukayo Saka to push forward and create goalscoring opportunities.

🔴 City triumph

• The victory against Manchester City in the FA Cup semi-final was perhaps the game when we saw peak Granit Xhaka.
• He plugged the gaps in Arsenal's defence and bossed the midfield, helping Arsenal to contain the likes of David Silva and De Bruyne.

🔴 Armband recovered

• In the Sheffield game in June, Xhaka took the captain's armband after Alex Lacazette was taken off.
• It was 245 days since Unai Emery took the captaincy off him.
• While it was just a small episode, it perhaps signifies a lot to the midfielder, who completed his unlikely redemption with this.
• Then, in early September, Granit was appointed captain of his national team. He said it was a "dream come true".

We're very happy for Xhaka and the fact that he has managed to turn the tide and establish himself as one of Arsenal's key players. Happy birthday to Granit — and we're looking forward to seeing best of him on Monday against Liverpool!