Arsenal journalist Charles Watts has been discussing Gunners midfielder Granit Xhaka and whether or not he had apologised for being sent off during Arsenal’s recent 1-0 defeat to Burnley.
This comes after Watts recently uploaded a video onto his YouTube channel where he spoke about a number of different topics surrounding Arsenal and relayed comments made by Mikel Arteta during his recent press conference.
On the topic of Xhaka and whether or not he has apologised for the red card he picked up for violent conduct, Watts had this to say on the matter.
He said: “[There] hasn’t been an apology from Granit Xhaka, which is in stark contrast to what happened with Nicolas Pepe a few weeks ago when Pepe got himself sent off in similar circumstances up at Leeds – Pepe came out the day later and apologised.
“Haven’t heard anything from Granit Xhaka yet, maybe we will. When you think he didn’t apologise to the whole fans thing last year, that’s perhaps not too much of a surprise.
“[Arteta] was asked, had he apologised to his teammates? Mikel said, ‘Whatever happens internally, I’m sorry, we cannot discuss. It’s been resolved internally, and that is what I can say.’
“So not saying whether he’s apologised or not to his teammates, but saying the matter has been resolved internally.”
Arsenal signed the midfielder back in the 2016 summer transfer window from Bundesliga side Borussia Monchengladbach for a fee of £40.5 million.
Since then, the 28-year-old, who is currently valued at £25.2 million, has made 190 appearances for the Gunners, in which he has managed to score 12 goals and provide 18 assists – whilst picking up 53 yellow cards and three red cards along the way (per Transfermarkt).
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TIF Thoughts on Charles Watts’ comments on Granit Xhaka…
While Xhaka let himself and everyone at the club down after getting sent off against Burnley, it’s intriguing that Xhaka has not publicly apologised for his behaviour last weekend.
In our view, given that Nicolas Pepe made an apology for his red card, as Watts mentioned in his video, Xhaka should do the same.
Also, he should aim to fix his performances on the pitch too if and when he gets the chance, seeing as he has only earned himself a disappointing season rating of 6.45/10 so far in this campaign (per WhoScored).