Day: September 19, 2024

Former Arsenal captain Granit Xhaka has said he was relieved to have left the club for Bayer Leverkusen. 

Xhaka had a tumultuous relationship with the club’s fans over the years.

Unai Emery crowned him captain several years ago, but he fell out with the fans and lost his position. 

But Xhaka went on to play a lead role in the Gunners’ squad that nearly won them a league title two seasons ago. 

“My wife was there for the first meeting with Leverkusen,” he said during an Amazon Prime documentary on Leverkusen’s last season, which saw them win the Bundesliga unbeaten. 

“I wanted to know how she felt.”

He added: “It was pure relief for me. I said: ‘Yes! It’s not just me who feels that way, but the family too’.”

“I was lucky enough to be booed in 2019, as captain at Arsenal, in front of 60,000 fans,” he elaborated. 

“I say lucky because that made me brutally strong.

“I’m grateful that I got out of there. Because it was a dark day for my family, my wife and my parents. I think it was even harder for them than it was for me.”

Manchester United are reported to be monitoring Leon Goretzka at Bayern Munich.

The Red Devils mean business about signing the midfielder in the summer. 

Goretzka has only played for five minutes in Bundesliga action this campaign, as he is out of favour with Bayern.

The Sun reports that both Manchester and West Ham want to sign him. 

“We communicated very clearly from the start,” Bayern’s sporting director, Max Eberl, told Sky Germany after Goretzka was left out of the squad for Saturday’s 6-1 win away to Holstein Kiel.  

“Leon knew that we were relying on Pavlo (Pavlovic), and that we would bring in Palhinha and that Joshua (Kimmich) would play more in the centre again. 

“We’ve also said that when Leon is there and ready to face the situation, he’ll be treated completely normally. Leon’s a great guy. I like him a lot, even though he’s obviously upset at the moment. I understand that too. But that’s part of life in football.”