Xhaka’s involvement in an angry confrontation with the fans during Arsenal’s 2-2 draw with Crystal Palace, meant he could not be the captain anymore.
Crystal Palace's Ivorian striker Wilfried Zaha (C) vies with Arsenal's Swiss midfielder Granit Xhaka (2nd R) during the English Premier League football match between Arsenal and Crystal Palace at the Emirates Stadium in London on October 27, 2019. (Photo by DANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS / AFP)
Arsenal midfield star Granit Xhaka is no longer the captain of the club after he had an angry confrontation with the fans during a match. The decision to remove Xhaka as captain was announced by manager Unai Emery ahead of Arsenal’s UEFA Europa League encounter against Victoria SC. Now, Emery has announced another player as the captain of the Gunners.
Notably, Xhaka was named the captain in the month of September after his teammates had voted him to lead them. However, his involvement in an angry confrontation with the fans during Arsenal’s 2-2 draw with Crystal Palace, meant he could not be the captain anymore.
This is because he was attracting a lot of abuse from the club’s fans and in order to protect him from the abuses, he has been kept out of the team as of now.
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Emery has now revealed that Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang will now be the captain in place of Xhaka. Hector Bellerin, Alexandre Lacazette and Mesut Ozil are named as his deputies.
“Again, we can do one step more with him. He’s not here today but also I think we need to take time with him, first to protect him and also to be calm and training with us every day. But I was speaking with him this morning and also I decided he’s not one of the captains in our group and I decided that and I told him this morning,” Emery said as quoted by the club’s official website.
“He accepted my decision and also I told the captain and other captain my decision, we need to carry on and to focus on tomorrow’s match and Saturday’s match. I needed to take one decision, and now it is closed. We have now Aubameyang, Hector, Lacazette and Ozil – they are the four captains, and first is now Aubameyang,” he added.
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