How many central midfielders have had a better past 12 months than Granit Xhaka?
After Switzerland smoothly dispatched defending champions Italy last weekend to secure a place in the Euro 2024 quarter-finals, several media publications across Europe posited the idea that, if the Swiss can go on to reach the final, Xhaka could be a legitimate contender for the Ballon d’Or.
An idea that would once have been absurd or fanciful now does not feel implausible. Not when Xhaka just enjoyed an unbeaten season domestically with Bayer Leverkusen, winning a league and cup double, and also getting to the Europa League final (where the 3-0 loss to Atalanta of Italy was their only defeat in 53 matches all season).
Xhaka is not one to get preoccupied with individual accolades, though. His focus is on making history with this Swiss team, starting with beating England in Dusseldorf today (Saturday).
Although after that deserved win over the holders a week ago, he was fixed on claiming an altogether different type of reward: a kebab.
In the wake of their 2-0 victory in Berlin, striker Breel Embolo organised a delivery order for his hungry team-mates. “It was good to eat a kebab again after about 30 days,” Xhaka said. “Many players even treated themselves to a second one. It was excellent, super-quality. Many thanks to Breel for organising it. And many thanks to the (team) nutritionists who allowed us to do it!”
The Swiss camp is in a celebratory mood.
After their exit on penalties against Spain in the previous Euros three years ago, they have reached a second continental quarter-final. Xhaka, their captain, is at the team’s heart. This opportunity to face England — a country where Xhaka was frequently derided and often misunderstood during his Arsenal days — may provide him with even greater motivation. In recent years, Xhaka has proved many people wrong.
Xhaka was within one game of a treble with Leverkusen last season (Ralf Ibing – Firo Sportphoto/Getty Images)
Leading Switzerland to victory over England would be yet another redemptive moment.
Xhaka is playing as well as he ever has. Until recently, he had been dogged by accusations in Switzerland that his best performances were reserved for club football — that he was never quite the same player at international level. But that perception is beginning to shift. He has carried his outstanding form from Leverkusen’s 2023-24 season into the Euros.
His renaissance owes much to two coaches from Spain’s Basque region: Mikel Arteta and Xabi Alonso.
Just under five years ago, Xhaka was jeered from the pitch by Arsenal supporters during a home game against Crystal Palace. His response — gesticulating towards the crowd and appearing to mouth “f*** off” — led to him being stripped of the captaincy and he was seemingly heading for the exit door. Xhaka had reached a preliminary agreement with Hertha Berlin, and a transfer in the January 2020 window was seen as a formality.
Just days before that window was about to open, however, Arteta was appointed as Unai Emery’s successor at Arsenal. Over a series of candid meetings, the new head coach (now manager) persuaded Xhaka to stick around. “There was one guy, his name is Mikel Arteta,” Xhaka said in March last year, before his move to Leverkusen, when explaining his decision to stay. “I will always support him, it doesn’t matter what happens. Without him, I am 100 per cent sure I would not be in the club anymore. He knows that.”
The bond formed between Xhaka and Arteta propelled the now 31-year-old midfielder to his best spell in England. In the summer of 2021, Xhaka was keen to join Jose Mourinho’s Roma, but once again Arteta persuaded him to stay, and to sign a new contract.
As Arteta’s Arsenal evolved into a fluid 4-3-3, Xhaka’s role in the team was reimagined. He went from playing at the base of midfield, where he could occasionally be caught on the ball, to operating in a more advanced role on the left of a midfield three. The switch liberated him from some of his defensive responsibilities and unleashed a new dimension in his game. He finished the 2022-23 Premier League with seven goals and seven assists in 37 appearances — by far the most productive season of his career.
When Xhaka told Arsenal of his plans to leave that summer, Arteta and the club’s sporting director Edu did not feel they could stand in his way a third time. Xhaka, who had been signed from Borussia Monchengladbach in 2016, moved back to Germany with Leverkusen, to work under Alonso.
Perhaps because Arteta and Alonso share certain key attributes as players and people with Xhaka, they have been able to unlock new levels in him.
Xhaka was signed to lend his experience to a youthful side. That blend helped Alonso’s men to their extraordinary campaign, in which they won 43 games, drew nine and lost only one. Leverkusen came within 90 minutes of a treble but fell to defeat in that Europa League final in Dublin.
He has sought to pick former Liverpool, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and Spain midfielder Alonso’s brain at every available opportunity. “I’ve asked about a lot of things, about Real Madrid when he was a player,” Xhaka told TNT Sports this year. “I asked about his midfield partner, the strikers he played with, his coaches, and how important the small details are in football.
“It’s about having this mindset to be calm, even if you are down in a game. An example is the number of games Madrid turned around when they were down, and the number of games they won when losing in extra time. They are the small details if you want to compete with the top teams. You need to be calm if you’re not playing well, and believe you can get a result when you’re down in a game.”
Xhaka, who turns 32 in September, has already informed Leverkusen of his intention to go into coaching, having volunteered to work with their academy teams. “I can see it in his eyes that he always wants to learn,” says Alonso, who is only a decade older than Xhaka. “And this happened to me, exactly, in the last phase of my career as an active player. He wants to become a coach and it is clearly visible. I believe he will be a great coach.”
One of the key tactical decisions made by Alonso last season was to restore Xhaka to a deeper role, alongside Exequiel Palacios, who helped Argentina win the 2021 Copa America and the following year’s World Cup. The number of passes Xhaka made per 90 minutes exploded to nearly 100, but more than half were over a short distance. At Leverkusen, he has become a metronomic midfield playmaker.
He operates in a similar role for Switzerland, paired with 71-cap Bologna midfielder Remo Freuler.
Born in Basel to Albanian immigrant parents, Xhaka has not always been cherished by the Swiss public. Some suggest his forthright manner and pride are somehow anathema to the country’s stereotypical characteristics of modesty and humility. There have also been suggestions of a personality clash with manager Murat Yakin.
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Switzerland’s Euros qualification was not impressive: they finished second in their group, five points behind Romania, after squandering late leads to the likes of Israel and Kosovo (twice), as well as Romania, and having to scramble from two goals down after 88 minutes to draw 3-3 at home with Belarus. Of their 10 matches, they won four and drew five. From the start of last season to March, they endured a run of seven games in which they beat only Andorra.
After a 2-2 away draw against Kosovo last September, Xhaka was critical of the team’s preparation. That led to constant speculation about the strained relationship between captain and coach. Yakin has worked at the relationship since then — and those one-to-one conversations appear to have smoothed things over.
“I’ve had a great relationship with the coach in the last six, eight months,” Xhaka told a press conference. “It has been better than the past. He came to see me many times. We had dinner together. We’ve drunk a lot of wine together. So everything is going fine. We are both ambitious and we want to be successful for ourselves and the team.”
Switzerland’s poor form also provided Xhaka with cause to reflect on his own contributions. That has arguably been the secret of his new-found success — a willingness to analyse his game and find ways to better himself. At Arsenal, his work in one-to-one sessions with individual development coach Carlos Cuesta was a significant catalyst for his dramatic improvement.
“The bad phase in qualifying opened our eyes,” says Xhaka. “I didn’t fulfil my role as captain as I should have. We are much more honest and open when something is wrong.”
Yakin shares Alonso’s conviction that Xhaka will make a great coach one day, and says the former Arsenal midfielder and Manchester City centre-back Manuel Akanji provide an invaluable spine for his Switzerland team.
“It is important that these two players, who are also so successful in their clubs, are so present in the centre,” Yakin said after that win over Italy last week.
“Manuel can cover on the left and right, he is good in build-up, is very intelligent and reads the game. He can speed up the game, he can also put the players under pressure. He and Granit have such a clear and simple understanding of the game that they simply let the opponent run and create numerical superiority situations for us.
“Both are in top form, carry the team, bring calm and experience. It’s great to have two such players in the team who also played an important role today (against Italy) — especially in terms of dominance, ball control and conviction. These are important elements in our game.”
Xhaka is showing his best form for Switzerland. In October 2023, he surpassed Xherdan Shaqiri as his country’s most-capped player. He was man of the match in two of their four games at these Euros.
One of Xhaka’s best qualities is his durability. At the end of a long season, he is playing through pain. His most recent injury was sustained practising penalties before that round of 16 tie in Berlin. As he fired in one shot, he felt a strain in his left abductor muscle. He played, thanks to painkillers, and after more scans on his hip, is expected to do the same against England.
He is focused on applying the same relentless mentality behind his club form at international level. “Those who know me know that I don’t like to talk with if, buts, and hypotheses,” he said last month. “I packed my luggage to spend a lot of time here (at the tournament). My motto is to go game after game, it has been like that with the club, and it will be the same with the national team here.”
If he can take Switzerland to a European Championship semi-final, the Xhaka redemption arc will hit a new peak.
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(Top photo: Visionhaus/Getty Images)