Who is Granit Xhaka?

Could Arsenal be looking to improve their midfield options with the addition of Switzerland’s “young Bastian Schweinsteiger”?

Granit Xhaka has emerged as one of the Bundesliga’s most talented midfielders since his move to Borussia Monchengladbach in 2012, and Sky in Germany report Arsenal are now willing to pay 43 million euros for him this summer.

So who is he? We take a look…

Factfile

Name: Granit Xhaka

Age: 23

Place of birth: Basel, Switzerland

Position: Midfielder

Background

Born in Basel, Switzerland to Kosovo Albanian parents, Xhaka is the younger of two footballing brothers. Both Granit and his older sibling, Taulant Xhaka, came through the ranks at Basel before Granit departed for Gladbach in 2012.

By that stage he had won two Swiss Super League titles and a Swiss Cup, taking home the Young Player of the Year award in 2012 and leading former Basel coach Thorsten Fink to say: “Xherdan Shaqiri is the best talent in Switzerland…after Xhaka.”

The two Swiss starlets had led their country to the U21 European Championship final in 2011, two years after Xhaka helped Switzerland past Neymar’s Brazil to win the U17 World Cup in Nigeria.

Xhaka became a full international aged 18, and attracted interest from German clubs as a result, eventually choosing Gladbach, where he swiftly became a key cog in midfield.

He’s since taken the captain’s armband on occasion in the absence of regular skipper Martin Stranzl, and more than 100 appearances later, is being touted as the potential answer to Arsenal’s defensive midfield problems.

At international level, his decision to play for Switzerland caused …

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