Granit Xhaka interview: 'We care more than people think – I cannot sleep when we lose'

Seasons have come and gone, managers have been fired and hired, dozens of players have been swept out of the club and yet still, despite all of the turbulence at Arsenal, Granit Xhaka remains. Not only in north London, but also in the Arsenal midfield. Still going strong, still a key player.

Xhaka has seen it all at Arsenal, and he can now feel something stirring at the club. “We are building something very special here,” he says. “It is a shame I only have two years more on my contract. Let’s see what happens after two years. But I am seeing a big, big future for this club.”

The reasons for optimism are obvious: an exciting transfer window appears to have left Mikel Arteta with a far stronger squad (with more signings to follow, Arsenal hope) and the evolution of the team is clear to see, despite their failure to finish in last season’s top four.

“We know exactly what we have to do,” says Xhaka, who is a devotee of Arteta and his methods. “Not only the first step but the second and third after, with the ball and without the ball. How we prepare ourselves or how he [Arteta] prepares us is amazing. I never saw something like this before.

“I have had many coaches but Mikel is maybe one of the top ones, because of how he explains and how he prepares. It is not normal.”

Now 29, Xhaka remains as trusted as ever, a senior member of the squad and a key figure both on the pitch and behind the scenes.

He even wore the captain’s armband again, for just a few minutes, in Friday’s victory at Crystal Palace. It felt like a significant moment, given his history with the captaincy: he was stripped of it by former head coach Unai Emery, lest we forget, after clashing with his own fans during a game against Palace in 2019.

Martin Odegaard is the official captain now, but talk to anyone at Arsenal and they will tell you that Xhaka is the natural leader of this side, with or without the formal job title. “Of course you don’t need it [the armband],” he says. “Everyone can see the leaders in this team. I don’t believe a lot in the armband.”

One day, should he choose to write one, Xhaka’s time at Arsenal will make for a riveting book. He has lived through all the change since Arsene Wenger’s departure, from the doomed Emery reign to the gradual rebuild under Arteta.

“It is my seventh year now,” he says. “I saw the good things, I saw the bad things. But it was never so, so, so bad as people were saying. Of course now the group is younger. I’m not saying the dressing room five or six years ago was better or worse, because every player has their own character.”

It is put to Xhaka that, with all these youngsters running around, he must feel like one of the elder statesmen of the team. “English people, they put you like a grandfather,” he laughs. “I’m 29, man! I don’t feel like a grandfather. After what happened with me three years ago [with the captaincy] I tried to come back as strong as possible with the new guys. I try to treat everyone the same. Age doesn’t matter.”

Xhaka’s seniority within the squad is one of the reasons he is so important to Arteta. At the same time, there is no questioning the Spaniard’s importance to Xhaka, who has explained that it is only because of Arteta that he is an Arsenal player today. “He is the reason why I am still at this club,” Xhaka says. “Three years ago I was gone. My suitcases were packed.”

The reconstruction of Xhaka’s relationship with the supporters has been steady, but significant. When he scored against Manchester United last season, there was a genuine warmth from both sides within the Emirates Stadium.

“It was maybe one of the greatest moments since signing for this club,” he says. “Everyone now knows what happened three years ago. Sitting here three years later and to say this was one of the greatest moments… three years ago I would have said this would never, ever happen. But I feel much more love from the fans, from my side as well. I am trying to build something with them again.”

The hope of the Arsenal players is that the new ‘All or Nothing’ Amazon documentary (the latest episodes will be published this week) will help to strengthen those connections. Or, at the very least, show the world that these footballers are real people with real emotions.

Such things matter more to Xhaka than most, given his history, and the Switzerland midfielder has long been pushing for more interaction with the fans.

“The people who do not see us in training, for example, do not see how hard we are working,” he says. “They see us only for 90 minutes. Everyone has a good and bad day. That is why I spoke with the club, [asking]: ‘Why can’t we bring the fans maybe once a week so they can see how we train?’

“It is not like we are coming here to waste our time and after we don’t care about the 90 minutes. We care more than people think. We can’t sleep after the game when we lose. But no one can see that. This makes me very disappointed, very sad. After [the matches] the people start to speak. ‘You didn’t give everything for the club, you did that, you did this…’ This is bull----, you know?”

Xhaka’s point is that, while things might not always go to plan on the pitch, it is never through a lack of commitment. After all, a player does not last so long at a club like Arsenal, becoming so fundamental to each of his coaches, without caring for his profession and his team. It is why Xhaka is so crucial to Arteta’s project, and why he remains such an important presence at the Emirates Stadium, even after all the changes over all these years.