Mikel Arteta Admits He Wants Granit Xhaka to Stay at Arsenal & Offers Calum Chambers Update

​Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has confessed that he wants to see midfielder Granit Xhaka turn down a January exit from the Emirates Stadium.

The Swiss international's agent recently revealed that they have ​already agreed terms with Hertha Berlin ahead of a possible January move, with the two sides now needing to agree on a transfer fee.

Granit Xhaka

Arteta has previously confessed that ​he is a huge fan of Xhaka, and speaking after his side's 2-1 loss to ​Chelsea (via the club's ​official website), he took the chance to encourage Xhaka to stay at the Emirates.

"He played at ​Bournemouth, he played really well, he was very committed, he played a really good game," he said. "After the game he started to feel ill. He had a temperature and he wasn't feeling good. The last two days he's been in bed. That's why he's not been selected.

"I hope [he does not leave]."


Xhaka is understood to be keen on a move away from Arsenal after his public breakdown in relationship with the supporters, which saw him booed off the field in October's 2-2 draw with ​Crystal Palace.

Granit Xhaka

If Arsenal are to let him go, they are ​thought to want close to €40m, but Hertha are only prepared to go as high as €35m.

Xhaka did not feature against Chelsea because of illness, while centre-back Calum Chambers managed just 23 minutes before being forced off the field with what looked like a nasty knee injury.

Arteta admitted that he was unsure about the extent of the issue, but the early signs did not look good.

Calum Chambers

"The doctors are assessing him. The first feeling he got, it wasn't very positive," he confessed.


The boss later spoke to ​talkSPORT about the need to enter the January transfer market to try and cope with his side's injury crisis.


“We will discuss in the next few days, internally, where we can improve the squad,” Arteta said. “Because at the moment we have a lot of injuries like I said. Some of them might be long term as well, so we have to adapt the plan.”


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Source : 90min