However, Xhaka went on to prove Emery, the fans and pundits wrong. He did play again, with his next appearance coming in Emery’s final game in charge against Eintracht Frankfurt.
Xhaka came close to leaving on more than one occasion after that. But since the dark day of that draw against Palace at the Emirates, Xhaka has made a total of 152 further appearances for Arsenal.
In all, he has played 296 times for the Gunners. So over half of his outings have come since then.
Xhaka has come full circle and the fans who loved him at the start are sad to see him leave. And it speaks volumes about him as a player that he was able to resurrect a career in north London when nearly everyone thought it would be impossible.
Xhaka is set to make his 225th and final Premier League appearance against Wolves on Sunday. Only 12 players have played more for Arsenal in the competition but no others have come back from such adversity.
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