Unai Emery has confirmed the inevitable. Granit Xhaka is no longer Arsenal captain following his highly-publicised fan dispute during last month’s 2-2 draw against Crystal Palace.
Xhaka was handed the armband just over a month ago but, according to Sky Sports News, was told by Emery on Tuesday morning that he was no longer part of the leadership team and ‘accepted’ the decision.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is set to take over as captain and plenty of Arsenal fans have taken to social media to approve of Xhaka’s successor…
Twitter: @SkySportsNews Captain https://t.co/vRkSYjM54F (@M_Haynes01)
Twitter: @SkySportsNews https://t.co/OQlFGMtbgI (@kipchumba__)
Twitter: @SkySportsNews Auba, Ozil, or Bellerin (@SwerqB)
Twitter: @SkySportsNews Good riddance auba for captain (@joel_1up)
Twitter: @SkySportsNews AUBAMEYANGGGGGGGG??? (@Caz98x_)
READ ARSENAL’S VERDICT
It currently feels like Xhaka’s career at the Emirates Stadium won’t be the same again and he’s been left out of the squad again for Thursday’s trip to Vitoria in the Europa League.
He hasn’t featured since reacting angrily towards fans after being substituted off in that disappointing game against Palace.
Aubameyang is without a doubt the Gunners’ most influential player and has the quality and experience to act as a fitting replacement though.
The most important thing for Emery and the club to do now though is to move on from this debacle and start getting results.
