This time nobody could bear to see the back of Granit Xhaka. “We want you to stay,” sang the Emirates Stadium crowd as he walked off 15 minutes from time, the serenade lengthy and heartfelt. They knew that would not be possible and, in the near future, the object of their affection will sign for Bayer Leverkusen; a better redemption arc would be hard to find, though, and the contrast with that bitter, acrimonious trudge from the same pitch in October 2019 must surely have run through Xhaka’s mind.
The fairytale sign-off had already come. Xhaka had never scored twice in a game for Arsenal but managed that within 14 minutes to his own mixture of delight and amusement. When a loose ball bounced his way in front of goal shortly after the half-hour, the likely outcome seemed too good to be true. It was a glorious chance for Xhaka to leave with an improbable hat-trick but he fluffed the effort and, where such a mishap would once have met jeers, the chuckles were generous. Arsenal’s supporters learned to embrace their midfielder in the end, warts and all.
