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.”
