Arsenal midfielder Granit Xhaka appeared to refuse the captain’s armband during the Gunners’ 2-1 home victory against Brentford.
Goals from Emile Smith-Rowe and Bukayo Saka wrapped up a vital three points for Mikel Arteta’s side.
The result enabled the north Londoners to move within one point of Manchester United in fourth position with two games still in hand.
However, Xhaka’s apparent refusal to accept the captain’s armband when it was brought to him by Eddie Nketiah, was a slight blemish on an impressive display.
However, Xhaka’s insistence on not taking the armband may well have offered a hint to who the next captain will be, as Nketiah immediately gave the armband to left-back Kieran Tierney.
How do you feel about Granit Xhaka appearing to refuse the Arsenal armband? Comment below
The incident happened after Alexandre Lacazette was substituted for Nketiah in the 84th minute of the contest.
Nketiah’s first involvement in the game was to run to Xhaka and hand him the armband.
However, the Swiss international seemed to snub the advances of the confused youngster, who then proceeded to instinctively turn to Tierney and hand the arm band.
The Scottish international promptly accepted the armband and adjourned it onto his sleeve before play was restarted.
And it is very possible that the armband could become a permanent fixture on Tierney, as he has previously been tipped to become the next Arsenal captain.
Former defender and member of the infamous Arsenal Invincibles side Martin Keown has previously expressed a desire to see the former Celtic defender handed the armband.
"Now Arteta has acted, he's got the chance to select his own skipper," Keown wrote in his Daily Mail column after Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was stripped off the captaincy.
"Under his management, I believe Kieran Tierney has been the standout player who could fulfil that role.
"But Tierney's relationship seemed strained with his manager recently when he returned from injury and wasn't brought straight back into the team."
While this could be a sign of things to come in regards to the next Arsenal captain, the incident has also provoked further reaction from Arsenal fans.
Infamous Gunner, Piers Morgan also expressed his anger at Xhaka’s refusal to take the armband from Nketiah.
“Xhaka refusing to take the armband perfectly sums up Arsenal’s biggest problem: since Vieira left, we’ve never had a proper captain/leader,” Morgan tweeted after the incident.
Xhaka was named as the club’s permanent captain under former manager Unai Emery in September 2019.
He became the skipper after winning a player vote amongst his teammates at the beginning of Emery’s second season.
However, he was stripped of the captaincy barely two months later after gesticulating at Arsenal fans who were heckling him while he was being substituted.
But despite his previous history, Arteta had included the Switzerland international amongst a “leadership group” of Arsenal players.
“In the last game we had (Alexandre Lacazette) and we have Xhaka too,” Arteta said when asked about the players who could wear the armband this season.
“It’s not the moment to make a rash decision. That leadership group is really strong … We are going to continue like that.”
