Granit Xhaka with Mikel Arteta(Image: Photo by Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)

Granit Xhaka has been given a glowing review by former manager Mikel Arteta ahead of Arsenal’s reunion with the midfielder in Sunderland on Saturday. The Swiss faces his former club for the first time competitively since he left for Bayer Leverkusen in 2023.

“I loved every minute that we spent together,” Arteta said. “When I joined, he was in a special moment of his life and his career, and between all of us, we tried to guide him, to give him a different perspective, to make him feel loved, valued, and he responded in an incredible way.

“He made me a better coach, he helped us to develop and improve a lot as a football team and as a club, and I will be eternally grateful because I have great memories with him.”

Arteta had to convince Xhaka to stay at the club when he re-joined as manager ahead of the January transfer window in 2020. A task that the newly-appointed boss successfully accomplished and a moment that would be critical in the...