Arsenal’s new signing all set to debut on Thursday, confirms Wenger
Jul 27, 2016 at 12:18 PM
Arsenal’s summer signing Granit Xhaka will make his debut in their pre-season friendly against MLS All-Stars, confirmed Arsene Wenger.
The 23-year-old midfielder joined his new teammates later after serving national duty with Switzerland at Euro 2016, but is now gearing up to start his Arsenal career after flying out with the squad for their tour of America.
Arriving in California ahead of Thursday’s clash, the Arsenal first team were greeted by Brazil legend Kaka who will be captaining the ALL-Stars eleven alongside Didier Drogba, Andrea Pirlo and Clint Dempsey and many more.
Considering the injury problems as usual and lack of recent activity in the transfer market, Wenger had to face the question in his conference if the Arsenal fans can expect to watch Xhaka in Arsenal shirt for the first time, he answered with a smile: “Granit Xhaka will play a part on Thursday.”
Xhaka, who completed his £30million transfer to the north Londoners before Euro 2016, came from German outfit Borussia Monchengladbach where he progressed to captain the side after his four seasons with the club.
Xhaka, tipped as the ‘Young Schweinsteiger’ by his international coach Hitzfeld, generally plays as a holding midfielder and has really been instrumental. He has been a full international for Switzerland since 2011, gaining more than 40 caps.
Xhaka’s style of play catches the eye as he has been able to combine his physical frame and the intelligence of his passing quite perfectly. His ability to leadership quality and control of the total game is what Wenger must have looked for when he went for this man.
His all-action approach is what Arsenal mainly lack in the centre of the park. The team lacks a true leader who can prove to be effective in dictating the play.
However, it remains to be seen whether Xhaka can emulate his success in Premier League also.