The links of Borussia Mönchengladbach’s midfield enforcer Granit Xhaka with both Liverpool and Manchester City that emerged recently, show no sign of fading. Indeed, they are likely to increase this summer, after he admitted that it is his dream to play in the Premier League. The 23 year old Swiss International has grown in stature for the Bundesliga outfit since joining them in 2012 and now wears the captain’s armband. Representatives of Jürgen Klopp are reported to have spoken to Xhaka’s agent about the possible availability of his client this summer and Xhaka himself has admitted he’d be tempted by Manchester City. So, if does make the move to the Premier League this summer, I look at what potential suitors would be getting.
Born in Basel, Switzerland, of Kosovo Albanian heritage, he played for Basel until 2012, winning two Swiss League Championships before he moved to Mönchengladbach for a reported €8.5m. It was at Borussia Park, under Lucien Favre, that he began to make his name and became a fixture in the side. Under the guidance of Favre, Xhaka steadily improved and was one of The Foals stand out players last season, when they finished an impressive 3rd in the Bundesliga, with some outstanding displays along the way. This season, a terrible run of results saw Favre leave the club and be replaced by his assistant Andre Schubert; under the new manager, Xhaka has been pivotal in Gladbach’s run of form and results.
His combative style makes him a natural for Premier League football, but it is his technical ability, passing range and leadership skills that has the attention of many of England’s top clubs. Former Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich manager Ottmar Hitzfeld once compared him to Bastian Schweinsteiger, lauding his intelligence and technique. One of Xhaka’s key strengths is his passing ability and his range of passing; he reads the game very well and despite not being a regular goal scorer, does have quite a strike on him.
To compare him with Manchester City and Liverpool’s current regular deep lying midfielders Fernandinho and Lucas Leiva, Xhaka does make less tackles per game, but their tackle success percentage rate is similar. However, where Xhaka really does elevate himself above the Brazilian pair is with interceptions, almost doubling them on that statistic. Xhaka’s 85% pass completion is below Fernandinho’s 88%, but ahead of Lucas’s 82%; to put that in perspective though, Xhaka is averaging over 20 passes per game more than the two Brazilians and his average pass length is just over 20 metres. Simply put, Xhaka is no crab, making short, safe and easy passes; he is willing to open the game up and make full use of his passing range and vision.
Xhaka does have one prominent weakness at this stage of his career though and that is discipline. His 6 yellow cards and 3 red cards in just 15 Bundesliga games this season is an issue that he needs to address. Over his Bundesliga career at Gladbach, he averages a yellow card every 3 games and although he had only been sent off twice before this season, it’s clearly a trend he needs to reverse.
In a recent interview with German magazine Sport Bild, Xhaka complained that he was deliberately provoked by some opponents: “I will not name names, but I know that there are coaches in the Bundesliga who have said in the team meeting: Provoke Xhaka, who has snapped sometimes from this. If that happens, I think that’s sad. This has, in my view nothing to do with football” He continued: “I can laugh over insults, that goes with it (the game), but when someone steps on your foot ten times, puts a boot in again and again, provokes you for 90 minutes – then it is hard to stay calm”
Xhaka does have a €25m (approximately £19.5) but out clause, but that does not come into effect until 2017, so the likelihood is that he would cost considerably more than that if he were to move this summer. So, given the disciplinary issues, would Xhaka be worth the hefty outlay? Well, provided the fee could be kept below £30m, then potentially he could be well worth the investment, especially if he can curtail his temper and further develop his ability to influence and control the tempo of games as both Liverpool and Manchester City are currently lacking in that department.
