Arsenal could rue selling £9m “monster” who’s now rivalling Xhaka

Since Mikel Arteta entered Arsenal Football Club he has been ruthless with his decision-making. He takes no prisoners, that’s for sure.

After one too many misdemeanours, the Spaniard removed the captaincy from Pierre Emerick-Aubayemany and subsequently told him to leave the club.

There’s also the goalkeeper situation. Aaron Ramsdale was fine. He had some great moments in an Arsenal shirt. Remember that jaw-dropping stop to deny James Maddison’s free-kick against Leicester? Alas, Arteta had seen enough. In came David Raya.

The way he’s now phasing out Oleksandr Zinchenko and Gabriel Jesus is also pretty ruthless but they aren’t good enough. Let’s be honest, here.

One of the more peculiar moves during Arteta’s reign was the freedom with which Granit Xhaka left the Emirates Stadium.

Why Granit Xhaka left Arsenal behind

The redemption arc of Xhaka’s Arsenal career was a sight to behold. This was a player who cupped his ear and tossed the captain’s armband on the floor during the reign of Unai Emery.

There was surely no way of coming back from that. Well, the Swiss defied the doubters, defied all critics and is now seen as a club icon for his performances under Arteta.

It was during the 2022/23 season that the midfielder shone brightest, scoring a career-best nine goals and also registering seven assists across all competitions. He had quickly become one of the finest central players in the Premier League.

However, he wanted to go and in swooped Beyer Leverkusen who snapped Xhaka up for a measly fee of £21.4m. Why did he go? Well, it was to seek a new challenge at a late stage in his career.

“After seven years, the time has come for something completely new. The league is not new, but the club is. During the talks with Simon Rolfes (Leverkusen sporting director) and Xabi Alonso, I felt that the long-term project at Leverkusen was worthwhile and that it was 100% in line with me.” – Granit Xhaka.

Since then, the now 32-year-old has enjoyed a fabulous time of it. He won the Bundesliga unbeaten last season and reached the final of the Europa League. He was among the Ballon d’Or nominees too.

Xhaka ended up ranking in 16th place, ahead of Martin Odegaard, Bukayo Saka, William Saliba and Declan Rice.

Did Arsenal miss him last term? Perhaps. That being said, club-record signing Rice did a pretty decent job in his stead, being named in the PFA Team of the Year for 2023/24.

That said, will the Gunners miss another midfielder? Quite possibly, for this young Frenchman is now ranking pretty closely to Xhaka in certain metrics.

When Arsenal sold a “monster in the making”

The 20th June 2020. It’s a poignant date in Arsenal’s history. An unsuspecting game with Brighton during that dreaded COVID season happened to alter the timeline of many careers as Arsenal lost at the Amex Stadium.

Berno Leno suffered a serious knee injury that led to Emiliano Martinez’s triumphant rise to become the best goalkeeper in the world. It was also Matteo Guendouzi’s last match in an Arsenal shirt.

Visibly angry at the challenge from fellow countryman Neal Maupay that hurt Leno, he somehow avoided punishment despite grabbing him by the throat.

Arteta had seen him enough, though, and that summer he was being sold in a £9m move to Marseille. Guendouzi left having flattered to deceive. He had mass potential but his attitude problems – as we saw in that clash with the Seagulls – often got the better of him.

Moving back to his homeland after initially being signed from Lorient, the France international did so having played on 82 occasions for Arsenal.

Described as a “monster in the making” by scout Jacek Kulig, the now 25-year-old is now impressing in Serie A for Lazio alongside Nuno Tavares. Remember him?

After a summer move, Guendouzi has played 14 times in which he’s scored once and registered a solitary assist. But, it’s his Xhaka-like qualities that are going under the radar.

Indeed, as per FBRef, the former Arsenal man ranks among the very best Europe has to offer for progressive passes. Compared to players in Europe’s top five leagues this season, he sits in fifth place for that metric with 96.

He sits just ahead of Real Sociedad’s Martin Zubimendi (91) and only just behind Joshua Kimmich (126) who ranks first and Xhaka (125) who sits second in the listings.

A pass is considered progressive if the distance between the starting point and the next touch is at least 10 meters closer to the opponent’s goal or any completed pass into the penalty area.

So, are there many other similarities between the two midfielders? Let’s take a look.

Let’s be honest. Xhaka is quite evidently the better football but it’s clear that there are plenty of similarities between the two players.

Arteta wasn’t to know but in a parallel universe, perhaps Guendouzi was the long-term heir all along? From a passing point of view, very little separates them and they also make a similar number of tackles per 90 minutes.

As data analyst Ben Mattinson once said, the now Lazio ace is a great “what could’ve been” player.