Seven years on from the passing of Arsenal's midfield torch, it was only appropriate for Granit Xhaka to receive as fond - if not a fonder - farewell than the man who would ultimately mastermind one of the unlikeliest salvation tales in Premier League history.
Cut to May 15, 2016. Mikel Arteta dons the famous red and white of Arsenal for the final time and hangs up his boots in fitting fashion - with a goal in a 4-0 final-day drubbing of Aston Villa - allowing Arsenal to once again earn the North London bragging rights by bumping Tottenham Hotspur down to third place.
In anticipation of Arteta's retirement, then-manager Arsene Wenger had already acquired the services of the somewhat unknown Mohamed Elneny from Basel, but the Egypt international was hardly one of the Frenchman's marquee winter arrivals and initially failed to replicate Arteta's pass mastery and undeviating ability to rifle home a 25-yard screamer.
Of course, Elneny would eventually flaunt his shooting excellence from distance, but there will be enough time to look back on his array of extraordinary goals when he calls it quits at the Emirates, where his fellow lynchpin Xhaka experienced every single emotion imaginable on a football field.
The 1992-born midfielder was not Arsenal's first-choice acquisition by any stretch, as Wenger fought tooth and nail to bring breakthrough talent N'Golo Kante to North London from title winners Leicester City, but unfathomable agent fees apparently scuppered the Frenchman's efforts to take his compatriot under his wing.
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Instead, the cash was splashed on a 23-year-old Xhaka, who had already sported the armband at a tender age for Borussia Monchengladbach and promised to add an "aggressive" bite to the Gunners' midfield - the Switzerland international used a variation of that specific word no fewer than three times in one excerpt of his welcome interview.
A quick glance at Xhaka's disciplinary record from his days at Borussia Monchengladbach showed that the midfielder was a regular occupant of the naughty step; the 30-year-old was sent off at least once in three successive campaigns for Die Fohlen, and in the 2015-16 Bundesliga season, he was remarkably sent for an early bath three times before Christmas.
While cutting a hot-headed figure on the field, Xhaka compensated for his misdeeds off it - even donating circa £17,000 to a local charity after his third red card of that season - and many a Gooner welcomed the bite that Xhaka would bring to the engine room as their new enforcer given their 'soft' reputation.
One quote in particular stands out from Xhaka's Arsenal inauguration: "I like the style of football in the Premier League. It's aggressive and I like the way Arsenal play football. It's not like other countries. In Germany you can play aggressively but the referee will always blow his whistle, but in England that's not the case. That's better for me."
I believe the expression is: Oh, the irony.
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Some of the home faithful at Hull City's MKM Stadium could only stand and applaud - albeit in abject misery - when Xhaka opened his account for Arsenal in breathtaking fashion, picking out the top corner with an outrageous long-term strike to rubber-stamp a 4-1 victory in the fifth gameweek of the 2016-17 Premier League season.
However, despite Wenger's affirmations that Xhaka was best suited to a box-to-box role, the Swiss enforcer often found himself doing the dirty defensive work at the base of the midfield, where his volatile nature would soon land him in hot water with the Premier League's much-maligned officiating team.
With two straight red cards in his debut Premier League campaign - one against Burnley and the other against Swansea City - Xhaka's previous comments were not ringing true, but the midfielder managed to avoid taking the walk of shame in the entirety of the 2017-18 season, weighing in with seven assists while also accumulating double figures in bookings in the top flight - the first of three successive campaigns in which he would receive 10 Premier League cautions.
Upon the departure of Wenger and induction of Unai Emery, Xhaka notched a quartet of Premier League goals and had fully cemented a page in the Spaniard's good books - so much so, that he was ordained as the Gunners' new captain in 2019, taking over from Laurent Koscielny after the Frenchman's acrimonious goodbye.
Xhaka, of course, was no stranger to leading his team out onto the turf with the captain's band strapped around his upper arm, but by this point in his and Emery's Arsenal career, toxicity was growing at an alarming rate.
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Channels such as AFTV - which had rapidly grown in popularity during the unpleasant final two years of Wenger's reign - gave disgruntled 'fans' a platform to voice their grievances with a barrage of insults and choice words to players and staff alike, at a time where unity was needed inside the Emirates walls more than ever.
Xhaka was never immune to such scathing criticism from this new wave of supporters, but in truth, he was done absolutely no favours by Emery, who persisted on using the ex-Basel youngster in a defensive role while the tenacious Lucas Torreira inexplicably utilised in a more advanced position.
With Gooners often loath to call out fan favourites such as Torreira, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Aaron Ramsey and Mesut Ozil - to some degree - Xhaka was an easy scapegoat, as Arsenal fans yearned for the midfield glory days of 2014, where Ramsey, Ozil, Jack Wilshere, Tomas Rosicky and Santi Cazorla would often work in tandem to score the perfect Wenger goal.
Fast forward to the second half of 2019, and Arsenal's goal threat from midfield - barring the odd Xhaka thunderbolt - had dried up quicker than a bunch of grapes in a British heatwave. Emery's side had won just four of their opening nine games of the campaign, and Arsenal fans needed an easy target to point the finger at. Cue Crystal Palace.
In truth, Arsenal could have hardly started that game any better. The heavily-criticised central defensive duo of Sokratis and David Luiz had propelled the Gunners into a two-goal lead within the opening nine minutes, and Xhaka even headed the ball down for the former to lash home.
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However, as Luka Milivojevic and Jordan Ayew restored parity for Palace, Emery turned to his bench in desperate need of inspiration, calling upon a teenage Bukayo Saka as Xhaka's number went up on the 61-minute mark.
Many of those inside the home crowd were only too happy to see Xhaka trudge off the field and did not hesitate to make their feelings known, cheering at his withdrawal and goading the midfielder, who finally snapped and dished it back out to the vexed Emirates faithful, before leaving his shirt in a crumpled heap and storming into the dressing room.
The post-match talk should have been dominated by a farcical VAR decision to rule out a Sokratis winner, but the only topic on anyone's lips was Xhaka's tantrum. AFTV were having a field day, Emery publicly voiced his disapproval, and an ostracised Xhaka was soon stripped of the captaincy only a few months after being bestowed with the honour.
By this time, Arsenal supporters had already begun to react with disdain when Xhaka's name was included on the teamsheet, and many would have happily paid for the midfielder's one-way ticket out of the UK, which was ostensibly the only outcome to the saga, in spite of the midfielder's reasoning for his actions on social media.
Revealing that his family - including a newborn daughter - were also the targets of putrid comments wishing death upon them, Xhaka garnered sympathy from several corners and outlined his desire to get back to a point of "mutual respect" with the North London crowd, which was not on anyone's bingo card when Arteta took over from the ill-fated Emery.
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However, Arteta - who has prided himself on revitalising players consigned to the deepest doldrums - made it his priority to rebuild the connection between Xhaka and the fans, slowly re-integrating him into the first team setup and sharing a pair of FA Cup and Community Shield crowns with him less than a year after his Arsenal career was seemingly dead in the water.
As the COVID-19 pandemic raged across the globe, Xhaka may have been somewhat grateful not to be subjected to regular vitriol during the behind-closed-doors era, but Arsenal's fortunes were not improving, and mistakes were still commonplace for the Switzerland international.
Support for Xhaka was growing - albeit at a snail's pace - but that affection only lasted up until his next misdemeanour. The midfielder returned to his explosive ways in a December 2020 defeat versus Burnley, seeing red for grabbing Ashley Westwood by the throat, before going from villain to hero with a wonderful free kick versus Chelsea on Boxing Day.
Xhaka would fail to find the back of the net for the remainder of the Premier League campaign, though, and the Clarets' curse was still bedevilling him, as he memorably gifted Chris Wood one of the easiest goals that he will ever score in his career in March 2021.
While a plethora of factors contributed to Arsenal's lowly eighth-placed finish that year, taking just one point home from Turf Moor rather than three proved particularly costly, as Arteta's men placed one point behind Europa Conference League-bound Tottenham Hotspur - not that many Gooners were losing sleep over failure to qualify for that competition, though.
Arsenal tend to make a big deal of contract extensions nowadays, but Xhaka's renewal in 2021 amid interest from Roma received little coverage on the Gunners' channels, as the relationship between the midfielder and some members of the fanbase was still broken beyond repair.
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With Thomas Partey also struggling to stay out of the medical bay, Xhaka found himself in the defensive midfield spotlight once more, and a similar story befell him in the 2021-22 season, where he received more red cards (two) than he scored goals across all competitions (one).
However, that solitary strike saw Xhaka revert to his long-range ways, capping off a 3-1 win over Manchester United with a rocket of a 25-yard effort, and while Arsenal's bid for Champions League qualification ended in failure, the Switzerland captain would well and truly win over the fans once more.
Thanks in no small part to Partey's upturn in fortunes fitness and form-wise, Xhaka was given licence to roam the final third and contributed no fewer than seven goals and seven assists in the most recent Premier League season - as many strikes as new signing Kai Havertz managed in the top flight.
Xhaka burned too many bridges to ever be considered for the permanent captaincy again, but he remained one of the Gunners' experienced leaders and would assume skipper responsibilities during the absence of Martin Odegaard or Aubameyang, the latter of whom certainly did not do the armband justice either.
As speculation over a move to Bayer Leverkusen heated up, Xhaka could hardly have dreamed for a better Emirates adieu, netting a brace in a 5-0 final-day demolition of Wolverhampton Wanderers - basking in adulation from the same fans who had no doubt voted for his departure - before both he and Arteta remained coy over his future, but both evidently knew the answer.
During his first six seasons at Arsenal, Xhaka led the way in a host of unwanted statistical categories. Indeed, no player made more errors leading to goals (eight), while he sat joint top of the red cards (four) and penalties conceded (six) charts.
The 30-year-old's relationship with the officials certainly remained frosty even after he cleaned up his act, but while he may not have achieved statue status at the Emirates, Xhaka heads back to Germany to an ensemble of Arsenal adoration and eternal gratitude for his efforts in the face of unenviable hostility.
Ben Knapton
