{"id":633045,"date":"2026-05-09T15:15:15","date_gmt":"2026-05-09T15:15:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/633045\/"},"modified":"2026-05-09T15:15:15","modified_gmt":"2026-05-09T15:15:15","slug":"granit-xhaka-on-arteta-arsenals-title-and-emery-darkness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/633045\/","title":{"rendered":"Granit Xhaka on Arteta, Arsenal’s title and Emery ‘darkness"},"content":{"rendered":"

The former Arsenal midfielder praised Arteta\u2019s influence on his career and said he is \u201ccheering for sure\u201d for his old club.\"GranitThe Times, 9 May 2026<\/p>\n

Granit Xhaka has made clear he wants Arsenal to win the Premier League title, with the former Gunners midfielder saying Mikel Arteta\u2019s side \u201cdeserve\u201d to end the club\u2019s 22-year wait.<\/p>\n

Xhaka spent seven years in north London and feels closely connected to the club, not least because of the role Arteta played in rebuilding his Arsenal career after one of its darkest moments. <\/p>\n

The 33-year-old, now captain of Sunderland, was asked about the title race and left no doubt about where his support lies.<\/p>\n

\u201cMikel is a very special person for me,\u201d Xhaka said<\/a>. \u201cWithout him I don\u2019t think I will be here, where we are sitting today. I started to learn football in different way because of him.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe prepares you so good that when you go on the pitch, you can really close your eyes and you know where the opponent is and you know where your team-mate is. I\u2019m cheering for sure for Arsenal, but as well for the guys who deserved all season. I think we can be very open: Arsenal deserve to win the title.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"MikelPhoto by Justin Setterfield\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

That verdict carries weight from a player whose Arsenal story was nearly over in 2019, when he was substituted by Unai Emery at Emirates Stadium, took off his shirt and captain\u2019s armband, and upset the Arsenal supporters. <\/p>\n

Arteta replaced Emery later that year and kept Xhaka at the club, helping him become a key figure again before his move to Bayer Leverkusen.<\/p>\n

\"GranitPhoto by Alex Morton\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cThe darkness [after the substitution by Emery] was only when I was alone, but it was a nice darkness because I learnt a lot from it,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Xhaka left Arsenal in 2023 after helping to drive the early stages of Arteta\u2019s rebuild, and his respect for the manager has clearly endured. His comments also underline how far Arsenal have come since that period, from a side in trouble to one now closing in on the league title.<\/p>\n

He also spoke about his coaching ambitions and revealed that both Xabi Alonso and Arteta had given him the same advice about his playing career.<\/p>\n

\u201cI spoke with Xabi [Alonso] \u2013 \u2018When was the point you had the feeling you want to be from a player to coach?\u2019 I would ask him. \u2018Play as long as possible,\u2019 he would say. Mikel [Arteta] said the same.\u201d<\/p>\n

Xhaka has just been named Sunderland\u2019s Player of the Season and, at 33, he still has a few years left in him. His Sunderland contract runs until 2028, just a few months before his 36th birthday. <\/p>\n

His older brother, Taulant, retired in the summer aged 34.<\/p>\n

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Arsenal secured Champions League football for next season with a dominant 3-0 win over Aston Villa at Villa Park.<\/p>\n

Granit Xhaka on Arteta, Arsenal\u2019s title and Emery \u2018darkness<\/a><\/p>\n

Granit Xhaka has backed Arsenal to win the Premier League, praising Mikel Arteta and saying his former club deserve the title.<\/p>\n

Mavropanos sends Arsenal warning<\/a><\/p>\n

Konstantinos Mavropanos says West Ham will \u201cgo for it\u201d against Arsenal as the title race and relegation fight collide on Sunday.<\/p>\n

Arsenal consider contract u-turn for 30yo set to leave<\/a><\/p>\n

Arsenal are considering a contract U-turn for Katie McCabe, despite the Ireland captain having looked set to leave on a free transfer.<\/p>\n

Arsenal flop flops again at new club<\/a><\/p>\n

Raheem Sterling\u2019s Feyenoord spell is set to end after four months, with the former Arsenal winger failing to earn a longer deal in Rotterdam.<\/p>\n

Related Topics<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The former Arsenal midfielder praised Arteta\u2019s influence on his career and said he is \u201ccheering for sure\u201d for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":633046,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[69],"tags":[144542,403,99],"class_list":["post-633045","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-soccer","tag-granit-xhaka","tag-soccer","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/633045","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=633045"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/633045\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/633046"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=633045"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=633045"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=633045"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}