Unai Emery has confirmed that Arsenal have stripped Granit Xhaka of the captaincy and given it to Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

Arsenal captain’s curse makes Aubameyang its 9th victim

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang celebrates scoring Arsenal’s first goal against Olympique Lyonnais in pre-season (Photo via Twitter / Arsenal)
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang celebrates scoring Arsenal’s first goal against Olympique Lyonnais in pre-season (Photo via Twitter / Arsenal)

Speaking at his pre-Vitoria press conference the Arsenal head coach confirmed that the midfielder had been stripped of the captaincy and that our top striker would  take his place.

Asked if Xhaka will play for Arsenal again, Emery was evasive. “The future is Arsenal’s future,” he said. “We have a very important match on Saturday. We need to take some decisions… My focus is for tomorrow.

“He is our player, we want to respect him.

“We’re speaking a lot about that [if Xhaka wants to leave]. It’s clear. There’s no more words about that.

LONDON, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 27: Granit Xhaka of Arsenal leaves the pitch after being substituted off during the Premier League match between Arsenal FC and Crystal Palace at Emirates Stadium on October 27, 2019, in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Alex Morton/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND – OCTOBER 27: Granit Xhaka of Arsenal leaves the pitch after being substituted off during the Premier League match between Arsenal FC and Crystal Palace at Emirates Stadium on October 27, 2019, in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Alex Morton/Getty Images)

“I told him and told the other captains. Then the time is giving us the next weeks and months, how we can continue with every player.”

Hector Bellerin, meanwhile, said, “That was the situation with me [the boos]. As you can imagine it was really hard for me, it was the first time something like that happened to me.

“I said to Granit ‘this is like in every walk of life. One day you’re at the top and another you’re at a low.’

“When these things happen to you personally you have a whole squad that can back you… That’s what happened to me then, I had a whole group of players backing me.”