‘They opened the door’: Arsenal star says he was ‘very close’ to quitting club in 2021

Photo by Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images

Arsenal midfielder Granit Xhaka has revealed that he did almost leave the club last summer after receiving an offer from a European side during the transfer window.

In an interview with ESPN, the Swiss international opened up about last year when AS Roma were reportedly very interested in signing Xhaka, with the midfielder heavily tipped to leave Arsenal following another mixed campaign with the north London side and the 29-year-old’s relationship with the fans still quite low.

Xhaka states that he was ‘very close’ to calling time at Arsenal last summer, however, the midfielder decided to stay and extended his contract by an extra year, a move that was never officially announced by the club given the former £35m Bundesliga star’s contentious reputation with supporters at the time.

However, despite all of this and missing the first half of the season through injury, Xhaka enjoyed what many would agree was his best year ever for Arsenal, with the midfielder finally forming an impressive partnership with Thomas Partey and showcasing many attributes both on and off the pitch that have made the former captain

Indeed, Xhaka heads into the upcoming season as one of Arsenal’s most important players and a figure many supporters now respect and admire, yet things could have been a lot different last year had the midfielder decided to quit Arsenal to move to Roma.

Xhaka said: “It was something, yes. Mikel was the guy with Edu, they didn’t let me go because they wanted to keep me here. Of course, my first reaction was to stay at the football club, but they opened the door: ‘If something comes, I can leave.’ I have to be honest as well. I don’t want to say a name now, but the door was open for me to leave the club as well. But in the end, people decided to keep me here.”

Xhaka was right to shelve leaving Arsenal to fight for spot

Photo by Catherine Ivill/Getty Images

One year is a long time in football, and if you asked any Arsenal fan in the summer of 2021 that Xhaka would be one of the club’s best and most important players, they would believe you are joking, yet that’s exactly what has happened since the 29-year-old’s decision to not leave north London.

Whilst there have been some low points, namely the red cards against Manchester City and Liverpool, Xhaka proved to be a star for Arsenal for the second half of the season, and his performances in the final months of the campaign were huge in the Gunners coming oh so close to a top-four finish.
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