Granit Xhaka has been congratulated by his Arsenal team-mates after winning the Switzerland player of the year award.
Xhaka is enjoying a purple patch of form this season, contributing three goals and five assists in 19 Premier League matches so far. The 30-year-old midfielder is one of Mikel Arteta’s most important players – and he is similarly key for his country.
He is Switzerland captain and led the nation at the World Cup in Qatar as they reached the last-16 of the tournament. The Swiss beat Cameroon and Serbia to get out of Group G alongside Brazil before being thrashed 6-1 by Portugal in the knockout stages.
Xhaka played every minute of the World Cup for Switzerland and has now scooped an award for his performances. He attended a ceremony in the Swiss capital of Bern on Monday night where he took the top prize.
Posting pictures of himself with the award on Instagram, Xhaka wrote: “Very proud to be named Switzerland player of the year. Big thanks for the support - it really means a lot.”
The replies poured in from his Arsenal colleagues, with Oleksandr Zinchenko writing, “congratulations brother” and Thomas Partey adding some heart and fire emojis.
Arsenal sporting director Edu posted a top emoji, as well as some clapping hands. Pablo Mari, who is on loan from Arsenal at Monza, wrote: “What a player”.
There were also some comments from former Arsenal players, with Alexandre Lacazette posting some clap emojis and Johan Djourou adding a heart. Xhaka is clearly a popular winner with his Switzerland teammates, with Manuel Akanji, Breel Embolo and Ruben Vargas showing their support too.
The award topped off a good weekend for Xhaka, who played the full 90 minutes in Arsenal’s 3-2 win over Manchester United on Sunday. It was Xhaka who put in the pinpoint cross for Eddie Nketiah’s first goal and he was tidy in midfield throughout the match.
The win re-established Arsenal’s five-point lead over Manchester City at the top of the Premier League table. The Gunners have 50 points from 19 games – their highest ever points total at this stage – and also got a game in hand on their rivals.
Zinchenko gave an insight into the dressing room following the win. “To be honest when I just arrived, the quality I saw – obviously I knew the Arsenal team, I knew all of them before – but still, I realised on the pitch that we have everything to achieve the big things,” he told Premier League productions. “And I started to speak in the dressing room like, ‘guys, forget top three or whatever it is, we need to think about the title’.
“Some of them were laughing, but no one is laughing now. All of us are dreaming, but like I said, there are a lot of games and United are back, City are always there obviously. Let’s see what’s going to happen, we need to move step by step.”
