Arsenal manager Unai Emery has said that he does not plan to play club captain Granit Xhaka in Saturday’s Premier League match against Wolves.
Xhaka was last week booed off the pitch by his own club’s supporters as Arsenal drew 2-2 with Crystal Palace at the Emirates Stadium.
On Thursday he released a statement in which he said he had “reached boiling point” following repeated threats from fans to his wide and daughter.
They included ‘Kill your wife’ and ‘Wish that your daughter gets cancer’.
At his Friday press conference, Emery confirmed that he had no plans to play Xhaka against Wolves but declined to elaborate on whether or not the Switzerland international would remain as the club’s captain.
“The first is the person, the human. Like everyone he feels, Xhaka, with his issues, needs time to recover normality,” Emery said.
“He said sorry, he gave the apology to the supporters and to everybody. Now is the focus on the match.
“We were waiting on Monday and Tuesday (to sort out the captaincy).
“It is not in my mind that he will play tomorrow. I am thinking tomorrow he is not going to play.
“Now we need to be focused 100 per cent only on the match. We are going to do the training today but at the moment it is not in my mind.”
Arsenal host Wolves at the Emirates on Saturday, with the match kicking-off at 3pm.
