“Arteta shouldn’t have sold him. He sold him already and now he’s seriously regretting and biting his fingers on why he sold him”- Arsenal Ex star Mesut Ozil explains that Mikel Arteta is starting to regret why he sold £21M Arsenal who was his best friend at Arsenal
“Arteta shouldn’t have sold him. He sold him already and now he’s seriously regretting and biting his fingers on why he sold him”- Arsenal Ex star Mesut Ozil explains that Mikel Arteta is starting to regret why he sold £21M Arsenal who was his best friend at Arsenal
Mikel Arteta, the manager of Arsenal, might be feeling a bit regretful about a decision he made last summer. Back then, he allowed one of his key players, Granit Xhaka, to leave the team for Bayer Leverkusen in a £21 million deal. This move is now causing some problems for Arsenal, especially as they face challenges in the Premier League.
Last season, Arsenal was doing well and even led the Premier League for a significant part of the time. However, they couldn’t prevent Manchester City from winning the league. This season, Arsenal started with high hopes but has faced a series of poor results, falling five points behind Liverpool in the league and exiting the FA Cup.
One of the reasons for Arsenal’s struggles is in the midfield, an area where they were strong in the previous season. Granit Xhaka, who played a crucial role in the midfield, left the club. Last season, Xhaka performed exceptionally well, contributing seven goals and seven assists in 37 league games. His departure forced Arteta to rethink the team’s strategy, and finding a perfect replacement has been challenging.
Despite Xhaka not making significant contributions in terms of goals for Bayer Leverkusen, he has been a consistent presence on the field for the Bundesliga side, currently leading the table. Xhaka’s absence has been felt by Arsenal, especially in terms of ball possession, as shown by a data set on Twitter.
Arteta didn’t try to keep Xhaka from leaving, as the player felt it was the right time for a new challenge. Xhaka expressed his interest in exploring new opportunities, and after talks with Bayer Leverkusen’s sporting director Simon Rolfes and former footballer Xabi Alonso, he felt that the long-term project at Leverkusen aligned with his goals.
While Arteta respects players’ decisions to pursue new challenges, given Arsenal’s current struggles, he might be wishing he had done more to convince Xhaka to stay. This decision is now coming back to haunt him as the team faces difficulties in the league.
