30/07/2025
🔙 𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐭 𝐗𝐡𝐚𝐤𝐚 𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐞𝐫 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐠𝐮𝐞 with a move to Sunderland, but after developing and growing up at Bayer Leverkusen, this isn’t the same player we saw at Arsenal.
⚠️ Xhaka was a player reborn away from the pressures of the Premier League and the reputation he had built – not entirely without reason – as something of a liability in England. During his seven seasons with Arsenal, he committed more errors leading to an opposition goal than any other outfielder in the whole league (𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭).
💪Granit Xhaka's 2023-24 season at Bayer Leverkusen highlighted his consistency and reliability, making him a key player in a strong squad. He participated in 𝟐𝟐𝟖 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐧-𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐭-𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬, second only to Florian Wirtz (233) in the Bundesliga.
🔥Xhaka attempted 𝟐,𝟕𝟓𝟑 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬 with an impressive 𝟗𝟎.𝟕% 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞, ranking third in the league behind Joshua Kimmich (3,425 attempts, 3,183 completed). Among 32 midfielders with over 1,000 completed passes, only Aleksandar Pavlovic (93.2%) and Leon Goretzka (92.9%) had higher success rates.
🅰 He excelled in progressive passing, completing 203 such passes, with only two players surpassing him. Xhaka also recorded seven assists in open play, the most among defensive midfielders. He led the league with 𝟓𝟓𝟎 𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞-𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬, including 370 that broke the midfield line and 67 that penetrated the defensive line.
🥈In terms of creating chances, he was involved in 𝟔𝟕 𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞-𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐭𝐬 (second to Kimmich's 68) and played the pass before the assist 45 times, the highest in the league, with 10 secondary assists—four more than any other player.
🏃♂️Xhaka covered 𝟑𝟕𝟖.𝟐 𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 throughout the season, ranking among the top players for distance covered, and won possession in the final third 25 times, trailing only four attackers.
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