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Arsenal boss confirms Xhaka is refusing to play against Leicester + fresh injury blow

By on November 8, 2019

granit xhaka arsenal

Unai Emery has confirmed Granit Xhaka doesn’t feel ready to return to the Arsenal squad while Dani Ceballos has also been ruled out of the trip to Leicester City on Saturday evening.

Xhaka hasn’t featured in any of Arsenal’s last three matches since throwing a tantrum at his own fans while being substituted during the 2-2 draw with Crystal Palace two weeks ago.

The Swiss international made a half-hearted apology but has been stripped of the captaincy and now Emery has suggested that the midfielder has made himself unavailable for selection again this weekend.

Xhaka is known to be very head-strong and rumour has it he is furious that he’s being made out as a scapegoat for the teams failings this season. Many thought it was Emery who had left him out recently but it seems Xhaka is continuing to throw his toys out the pram by refusing to play for the team.

He doesn’t have the guts to face the fans and I hope the club withhold his wages. The papers today suggest Xhaka is heading for a move in January. Let’s hope the reports are accurate as the sooner we get him out the club, the better.

The fact that Xhaka doesn’t feel like playing for Arsenal leaves us short of options in midfield for Saturday’s huge trip to Leicester as Dani Ceballos has been ruled out of the game with a hamstring injury.

The Spaniard sustained the problem during the early stages of the second half against Vitoria on Wednesday night. It doesn’t sound serious but it’s enough to keep Ceballos out of the Leicester game so Emery doesn’t have a lot of options in the middle of the park.

Here is what Emery told reporters at his press conference this afternoon, according to Football.London:

On Ceballos
“Good evening, Ceballos has a small injury and he is going to be out for tomorrow. The rest of the squad, I think they are ready for tomorrow.”

Will Xhaka feature
“Not yet. I spoke with him on Tuesday for how he is feeling now and his mind because he is training well but he said to me he can’t play. We are going to wait.”

Emery is expected to bring in several players who were rested in midweek with Bernd Leno, David Luiz, Hector Bellerin, Matteo Guendouzi and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang all set for recalls against Leicester.

Let’s hope the boys put-in a much improved performance as what we saw against Vitoria was woeful. Another display like that and we can forget about the top four as Leicester are already six points ahead so defeat for Arsenal tomorrow would put us nine points adrift of the top four.