Granit Xhaka has opened up on the role Mikel Arteta played in saving his Arsenal career.
The Switzerland international seemed certain to leave the Gunners in the January transfer window this year after losing the captaincy under former head coach Unai Emery following a row with his own supporters against Crystal Palace.
In truly extraordinary scenes at the Emirates Stadium, Xhaka responded to jeers by cupping his ear towards the fans before taking his shirt and storming straight down the tunnel. In addition, he appeared to swear Arsenal fans as he was substituted.
And by the time Arteta was appointed, there was growing talk of Xhaka returning to Germany to sign for Hertha Berlin.
However, the Spaniard managed to convince the midfielder to stay and has even reversed Emery's captaincy decision on numerous occasions during his reign.
"I was able to do something at Arsenal that I had missed in the national team at the time: explain myself,” Xhaka told Neue Zurcher Zeitung, as per the Daily Cannon. "I didn’t go to training for two days, worrying about what all had happened.
"With my heart I had already left the club. The fact that I am still there today is thanks to coach Mikel Arteta.
"First, he wanted an explanation from me of what I felt, why I had acted like that. That’s exactly what I couldn’t do in the national team. I could tell him my motives, let out what was on my mind."
Xhaka also lifted the lid on the treatment he received from supporters and offered an explanation for his outburst.
"I was completely surprised by this [abuse from the fans]," he added. "I am a human being, I have emotions, even I get hurt by things. The disparaging gesture towards the fans that I made back then, I might not make today.
"Maybe I would behave differently in Russia too.
"But there are situations that you just can’t prepare for.
"I am basically a person who can handle criticism well. But what happened there was not acceptable to me. My family has been insulted even though it has nothing to do with the sport.
"I’m still on the social networks because in 2020 it is just part of the business. I started it late, but I would be lying, I would say I could easily delete my profiles from one day to the next. On the one hand I would like to do that, on the other hand I have invested a lot to gain this number of followers.
"It’s like a platform, even the clubs use it. You see the footballer, how he looks, how many followers he has. You can use it to estimate how much reach a player brings to the club.
"Reach has weight for the club sponsors, it helps for example with the sale of shirts."
