Granit Xhaka was born on 27 September 1992 and is a Swiss professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Premier League club Arsenal and captains the Switzerland national team.
34 Facts About Granit Xhaka
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Granit Xhaka then moved to Bundesliga team Borussia Monchengladbach in 2012, developing a reputation as a technically gifted player and natural leader alongside criticism for his temperament.
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Granit Xhaka was made captain of Borussia Monchengladbach in 2015 at the age of 22, leading the team to UEFA Champions' League qualification for a second successive season.
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Granit Xhaka was part of the Swiss team that won the 2009 FIFA U-17 World Cup.
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Granit Xhaka made his senior debut in 2011 and has won over 110 caps, representing the nation at the FIFA World Cup in 2014,2018 and 2022 and the UEFA European Championship in 2016 and 2020.
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Granit Xhaka was born on 27 September 1992 in the city of Basel, Switzerland, into an ethnic Albanian family from Podujevo, Kosovo, then part of the FR Yugoslavia.
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Granit Xhaka started his youth football with Concordia Basel and moved to FC Basel in 2002.
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Granit Xhaka played for various Basel youth teams and in 2008 became a member of the U-21 squad.
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On 18 May 2012, Basel announced on their homepage that Granit Xhaka had agreed terms with Lucien Favre's Borussia Monchengladbach.
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Granit Xhaka made his debut in a DFB-Pokal first round match against Alemannia Aachen on 18 August 2012.
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Granit Xhaka went on to feature throughout Arsenal's triumphant FA Cup campaign.
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Granit Xhaka played in the 2017 Community Shield that Arsenal won on penalties over Chelsea.
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On 27 September 2019, Arsenal manager Unai Emery confirmed that Granit Xhaka will be the new captain for the Gunners, replacing Laurent Koscielny.
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Granit Xhaka removed his jersey before walking straight down the tunnel.
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Granit Xhaka's actions were met with significant criticism after the match, and manager Unai Emery described Granit Xhaka's conduct as "wrong".
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On 30 October 2019 the club announced that Granit Xhaka would be offered counselling.
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On 5 November 2019, just a month and a week after his announcement as captain, Granit Xhaka was stripped of the captain's armband.
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However, under the tenure of new manager Mikel Arteta, Granit Xhaka was reintroduced into the team as a key player and saw a sharp uptake in his form for the club and slowly began to win over the fans with whom he had previously had an oft fractious relationship.
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Granit Xhaka credited Arteta for this resurgence, claiming 'He [Arteta] turned me around and gave me a second chance and he showed me he trusted me and I tried to give him everything back.
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Granit Xhaka was sent off at the 56th minute, after clashing with Dwight McNeil and later grabbing Ashley Westwood by the neck.
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On 13 January 2022, Granit Xhaka received a red card in an EFL Cup semi-final first-leg tie against Liverpool.
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Granit Xhaka has played for Swiss youth squad at the U-17 level.
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Granit Xhaka participated in the Under-17 World Cup in 2009 in Nigeria.
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Granit Xhaka was member of the Swiss U-21 squad that competed in the final tournament, hosted by Denmark, between 11 and 25 June 2011.
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Switzerland tried to select Granit Xhaka to participate in the 2012 Olympic Football tournament, but he opted to stay at his new club for pre-season training.
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On 2 June 2014, Granit Xhaka was named in Switzerland's 2014 World Cup squad by national coach Ottmar Hitzfeld.
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Granit Xhaka was selected for Euro 2016, where Switzerland's campaign opened against Albania in Lens.
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Granit Xhaka published an open letter stating that his participation in Euro 2016 had disqualified him from changing his allegiance, and he was thus tied to Switzerland.
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Granit Xhaka was named in manager Vladimir Petkovic's 23-man Swiss squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.
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Granit Xhaka was appointed as a temporary captain by Vladimir Petkovic in the absence of Stephan Lichtsteiner, which caused him to be criticised by former Swiss international Stephane Henchoz, who claimed that Granit Xhaka could not properly represent Switzerland due to his Albanian heritage, instead suggesting that Lichtsteiner, Yann Sommer, or Fabian Schar serve as captain.
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In September 2019, Granit Xhaka offered his captaincy to Xherdan Shaqiri in an effort to get him to return to the national side.
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In June 2021, Granit Xhaka was selected for the Switzerland squad which would compete in Euro 2020.
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In November 2022, Granit Xhaka was selected for the 26-man Switzerland squad for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
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In July 2017, Granit Xhaka married his long-term partner, Leonita Lekaj.