Granit Xhaka will no longer captain Arsenal, reveals Unai Emery
Arsenal boss Unai Emery has revealed that midfielder Granit Xhaka will no longer be the club captain. The Swiss star has been stripped off the captaincy following the gestures he made to the Emirates crowd after the supporters booed and heckled him off the field against Crystal Palace.
According to the BBC report, Granit Xhaka has been stripped off the captaincy by coach Unai Emery after midfielder’s angry confrontation with the home fans during the 2-2 draw with Roy Hodgson’s Crystal Palace at the Emirates. Xhaka was elected as the captain recently after the players voted for him to be elected as the new club captain following the departure of Laurent Koscielny. The 27-year-old was part of the leadership group along with senior members of the squad like Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette.
“I had a meeting with him and told him he is no longer in the captain's group. He is no longer in the leadership group. He accepted my decision. I needed to make a decision and now it's closed,” said the former Sevilla manager to the BBC.
Emery also announced that Pierre Emerick Aubameyang is set to take over the captaincy from Xhaka. The Swiss international was booed as he walked off the pitch after being substituted against Palace, prompting him to throw the armband at Aubameyang, cup his ear, take his shirt off and head straight down the tunnel to the dressing room. The Spanish boss then publicly told Xhaka to apologize to the club fans and Xhaka later stated that he got carried away and was disrespectful.
However, the former Basel man also said that he reacted angrily after he had reached the “boiling point” as numerous threats were made the player’s wife and daughter and he was deeply hurt by such actions. As a repercussion of his actions, Xhaka has not featured for the Gunners since the 27 of October and is not in the travelling squad to Portugal as Arsenal prepare to face Vitoria Guimaraes in the Europa League.
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