Granit Xhaka insists he wants to be a regular Arsenal starter: I haven't come here to sit on the bench

On the bench: Xhaka talks to Jack Wilshere in Arsenal's 4-3 loss to Liverpool
David Price/Arsenal FC via Getty Images
James Benge4 September 2016

Granit Xhaka does not intend to settle for a place on the Arsenal bench now that he has settled into a starting role in Arsene Wenger’s lineup.

The Swiss international, Arsenal’s fourth most expensive signing at £33.8million, was left on the bench for his new side’s first Premier League game of the season, a 4-3 home loss to Liverpool, but started each of the following two games.

In a 3-1 victory over Watford his partnership with Santi Cazorla showed particular signs of promise but for both Xhaka and his Spanish team-mate a place in Arsenal’s engine room will be hard-fought, with Aaron Ramsey, Francis Coquelin and Mohamed Elneny also eyeing starting roles.

The competition for places has already forced Jack Wilshere out of the club – he joined Bournemouth in a season long loan deal – but Xhaka expects to keep hold of his place in the coming months.

“I have not come to Arsenal to sit on the bench or even in the grandstand,” he told Swiss publication Berner Oberlander. “But I’m not 30, I’ll be 24 at the end of September. I’ve moved to a club and a coach that can develop me.

Watford vs Arsenal - analysis

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“I think at Arsenal I can improve my speed and power. Because I realize now that I’m not at a hundred per cent of what is possible there. [Understanding] this too is an advancement.”

Physicality is just what Wenger was after when he parted with such a sizeable amount to bring in Borussia Monchengladbach’s captain, a player who led the Bundesliga in bookings and will be expected to play an enforcing role at the Emirates.

But Xhaka believes he will need time to grow more accustomed to the hustle and bustle of the English game after playing in the more tactically refined German top flight.

“When it comes to tactics, then I think the Bundesliga is a bit the better league. The physical component in the Premier League is more pronounced, it’s more rapid.

“It’s just different. I would even say I experience it as completely different. In England there are teams that operate much more long balls.”

Xhaka has already been exposed to the explosive pace of Leicester’s Jamie Vardy and Watford’s Odion Ighalo, and admits that he will struggle to keep up with the acceleration of some in England. But he is confident that will not be a problem.

He said: “What does slow mean? Yes, I know I’m not the fastest with my legs. But I also believe that I’ve been pretty fast with my head.

“Anyway, I never thought: ‘Uiuiui, now [the game] comes to me but a little too fast’.”

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