Granit Xhaka 'agrees' January Arsenal transfer exit after nightmare season

Posted Saturday, December 28, 2019 by Dailystar.co.uk

Arsenal stripped Xhaka of the captaincy after his public bust-up with Gunners fans earlier this season and he now looks set to leave next month

Arsenal star Granit Xhaka looks to be heading back to Germany after agreeing to join Hertha Berlin.

The Swiss midfielder had a furious bust-up with Gunners fans earlier this season after being seen telling them to 'f**k off' after being booed from the pitch against Crystal Palace.

After being hauled off by then manager Unai Emery, Xhaka slowly walked off the pitch, delivered his foul-mouthed response and then ripped his shirt off and threw it to the ground before carrying on straight down the tunnel at the Emirates.

The £30m star refused to apologise for the incident, and was subsequently stripped of the captaincy by Emery.

He worked his way back into the first-team after a period on the sidelines but his unhappy season in north London now looks to be heading to a swift end.

Xhaka's agent Jose Noguera told Swiss outlet Blick: "Look, I will say it frankly and honestly, we are in agreement with Hertha BSC and would like to go to Berlin."

Granit Xhaka 'agrees' January Arsenal transfer exit after nightmare season
Granit Xhaka's furious bust-up with Arsenal fans has triggered the end of his time at the club

It remains to be seen if Arsenal can agree a price with Berlin for Xhaka, but they would appear likely to want the saga to be over as new boss Mikel Arteta gets down to work.

Arteta's first game in charge of the Gunners ended in a 1-1 draw away at Bournemouth.

The Cherries took the lead in the first-half through Dan Gosling but Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang pulled one back after the break.

"I was worried to see what happened if we conceded, and was very happy with their character - a lot of things from the past can come back, but that didn't happen," Arteta said.

"I'm very pleased with some of the things I've seen in terms of attitude, character, the passion we showed and the fighting spirit the team showed - spot on. Probably better than I expected over 90 minutes."

"It would have been great (to win) because it would have given us a better lift in terms of the energy and confidence of the team but we have to analyse the performance," he said.