Former Manchester United defender Phil Neville has offered a brutal assessment of Arsenal midfielder Granit Xhaka, calling him “fake”.
Xhaka, 25, has endured a frustrating two seasons in north London since moving from Borussia Monchengladbach in 2016, with some sections of the Arsenal fanbase openly criticising his performances.
The Basel-born midfielder played a key role in Switzerland’s progress to the round-of-16 in this summer’s World Cup, scoring the equaliser against Serbia in the Rossocrociati’s 2-1 win, which ultimately sent them through the group stages.
However, Xhaka and Co failed to reach the quarter-finals after losing 1-0 to Sweden in Saint Petersburg, and Neville was less than impressed with the Arsenal man’s role in the match.
Speaking to ITV during their coverage of the World Cup, Neville said: “Granit Xhaka probably thinks he had a decent game today because he passed the ball sideways to his teammates, but he cost his team the goal.
“He allows players past him too easily and he is the holding midfielder. He is fake.”
Xhaka completed more passes than any player in the Premier League last season with 3,116, as Manchester City defender Nicolas Otamendi was the only other player to break the 3,000 pass mark.
Despite this, the Swiss midfielder came under heavy scrutiny by fans and pundits alike for failing to play a more influential role for the Gunners across the campaign. The 25-year-old will be hoping the appointment of Unai Emery in north London will spark fresh impetus at the club and take his game to the next level.
The post Phil Neville labels Granit Xhaka “fake” following Switzerland’s World Cup exit appeared first on Squawka News.
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