Arsene Wenger supposedly solved Arsenal’s midfield issues with the £35 million signing of Granit Xhaka. Now he refuses to play him. What’s the point?
The two biggest and most important games of Arsenal’s season thus far have been the season opener against Liverpool and Tuesday night’s away match with Paris Saint-Germain to open their Champions League campaign. There has been one major omission from the starting lineup in both circumstances.
Granit Xhaka was signed in a £35 million move from Borussia Monchengladbach. As a tough tackling, intelligent, technical and yet physical central midfielder, the 23-year-old was seen as the centrepiece of Arsenal’s midfield, the cornerstone of which a new era of success can be built, established by the signings of Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez and completed by the Swiss international.
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Five games into his tenure at North London, though, such high hopes and aspirations seem mere pipe dreams. Arsene Wenger has been either unwilling, unable or unwanting to start his new flashy toy in the two most important games of the season. For what purpose, then, was Xhaka bought for?
When any club signs a player for £35 million, there is an air of expectation that they will become a central cog in the side. Even in today’s market of inflated wages and astronomical prices, such a thought still prevails: high investment equals high involvement. For Arsenal and Xhaka, that has, thus far, not yet played out.
Either then, Wenger has misjudged the qualities of Xhaka, wasting £35 million on a player who is either not as good as he first envisaged or not of the right role, or Wenger is repeatedly muffing on his tactical set up in both these games – the performances were lackluster in both the Liverpool loss and PSG draw. Whatever the case, the poor impact of Xhaka so far has lays solely at the feet of Wenger.
It is still early in his Arsenal career. Far too early to cast vague, overriding statements of him failing and Wenger spending poorly. However, his lack of usage is a genuine concern. A signing that was expected to inspire the side to greater success is sat on the bench, watching on.
Xhaka cannot yet be labelled as a bad addition. Nonetheless, his game time is a storyline to follow over the coming year as his role in the side is established as either a leader of the dressing room or simply another component. For now though, the question of Xhaka’s purpose does have some merit.
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