Granit Xhaka has returned to London ahead of his visit to the Emirates Stadium for Arsenal’s match against West Ham United on Thursday night.
Granit Xhaka’s partner Leonita confirmed on her Instagram story (shown above) on Wednesday that the pair have returned to London this week.
Xhaka left Arsenal for Bayer Leverkusen over the summer, but the midfielder never really had the chance to say a proper goodbye to the Gunners’ supporters.
Before the end of last season, Xhaka had publicly confirmed his hopes that his sale would be agreed prior to the final game against Wolves.
That didn’t happen, so the player couldn’t entirely say his farewells to the fans that day.
But in a recent interview with The Athletic, Xhaka confirmed that he and his wife will take advantage of the German winter break to attend the home game against West Ham United on December 28th.
“It will be our chance to say goodbye to the players, the staff and the supporters properly,” Xhaka said.
In the same interview, the midfielder insisted he has no regrets about leaving Arsenal, and why should he?
Bayer Leverkusen are unbeaten and top of the Bundesliga by four points as it stands, albeit with Bayern Munich having a game in hand.
They topped their Europa League group with six wins from six games to breeze into the knockout stages. They’re also in the DFB Pokal quarter-finals.
And most importantly, Xhaka has started 22 times as a key member of that side.
Xhaka added that he still cares about Arsenal, he still talks to Mikel Arteta’s assistant Carlos Cuesta, and he retains multiple friends within the squad.
The Swiss international watches as many Arsenal games as possible and hopes for the Gunners to win the Premier League.
This is one of those rare deals where everyone can feel relatively happy about how things have worked out.
Xhaka got a new challenge, in which he’s excelling, Arsenal got the largest fee ever received by a Premier League club for a midfielder in their thirties, and they’ve gone on to top their Champions League group and fight at the top of the Premier League.
A win for Arsenal on Thursday, with Xhaka in attendance, would send the Gunners back to the top of the division.
In those circumstances, it should be a good time for Xhaka and Arsenal to say their goodbyes properly.