Arteta’s £21m decision causing much ‘bigger effect’ on Arsenal than anticipated

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Arsenal fell to their first Premier League defeat of the season against Newcastle, and former Gunner Kieran Gibbs has now highlighted how the sale of Granit Xhaka has affected the team.

Xhaka departed Arsenal for around £21.4m this summer as he joined Xabi Alonso’s Bayer Leverkusen, where he is currently thriving.

He was excellent last season, but was sold this summer as Declan Rice and Kai Havertz came in for huge fees, and Arsenal have struggled creatively since.

Kieran Gibbs highlights impact of Xhaka sale

Speaking on ESPN after Arsenal’s defeat to Newcastle, which saw Mikel Arteta’s side register just one shot on target, former left-back Gibbs highlighted how Xhaka was a key link between defence and attack, and that his exit is being felt more strongly than previously anticipated.

“I think the absence of of Xhaka has actually – I think he probably had his best season last season, let’s be honest, after a long spell at the club,” he stated.

“I don’t think he was underrated last season, I just think that he was appreciated more for what he was doing, he calmed down his his antics with his fouls and stuff, and so he just cleaned up a lot of his game.

“I felt that he was a really good link, and he just gave that balance especially when Zinchenko came in last season and started to play inverted, it gave Xhaka a bit of a different role, so I do think it is having a bigger effect on the team than most people think.”

Arsenal’s midfield problems

With Thomas Partey, Emile Smith Rowe and Martin Odegaard all missing through injury yesterday, Arteta was dealt a bad hand as Arsenal travelled to St James’ Park.

Jorginho, Rice and Havertz started together, and whilst individually none had particularly poor performances, it was evident that something was lacking between the midfield and attack.

Rice has been exceptional in both a deeper role as well as a more advanced one, but Havertz’s struggles, as well as inconsistent minutes for the likes of Smith Rowe and Fabio Vieira, have meant that Arteta has not been able to consistently start a well-balanced midfield trio.

Xhaka has been a huge miss, not just for his leadership skills, but his ball distribution ability which has been evident at Leverkusen, is currently lacking in all of Arsenal’s options now.