Granit Xhaka is expecting to link up with the Arsenal squad immediately, following Switzerland’s exit from the World Cup to Portugal.

On Tuesday night, a rejuvenated Portugal side thrashed Switzerland 6-1 to kick them out of the World Cup.

After the game, Granit Xhaka suggested he’s not going to take a break from football, instead heading straight back into training with Arsenal.

“The Premier League is waiting,” Xhaka said. “Of course, I wanted to be here longer than this. But we lost the game today and I am happy to go back now with the team.

“I have something to achieve there, and I know the team is in Dubai at the moment doing the pre-season.

“I’m flying back to Dubai, going back to the team, and going back to the training and trying to forget the tournament now.”

The same might not apply to everyone. Takehiro Tomiyasu told the media he was hoping for a bit of a break after Japan’s elimination by Croatia.

“Hopefully, I can get a bit of rest,” Tomiyasu said. “I need time to forget about football. I need a bit of time.”

The Athletic suggested that Gabriel Jesus was unlikely to feature in December even before his injury setback, given Brazil’s continuing progression in the World Cup.

Then Ryan Taylor reported on Monday that Arsenal had granted a period of rest and recovery to Thomas Partey and Matt Turner following their own World Cup exits.

Taylor added that the same would apply to any other player knocked out of the World Cup, but it appears this time off is optional.

If Xhaka can resume club training straight away, then so can anyone else, should they wish to.

Now that Xhaka has seemingly decided to set an example by rejoining Arsenal immediately, you’d imagine his teammates will want to follow his lead.

Arsenal fans will certainly hope so, because at least one of their players will be playing at the World Cup until December 17th.

Bukayo Saka and William Saliba face each other in the quarter-final between England and France, and the winner will at least play the third-place play-off on December 17th, if not the final on December 18th.

If they then take time off, it’s hard to imagine that they could be involved in the first club game back on December 26th.