Granit Xhaka was shown no sympathy by Roy Keane and Graeme Souness for missing Switzerland’s penalty shootout loss to Spain on Friday through suspension, as the two tore into him.
The Gunners midfield general was fairly impressive for Arsenal this season, although has struggled for consistent form since arriving from Borussia Monchengladbach in 2016.
Now heavily linked with a move to Jose Mourinho’s Roma, Xhaka was superb in Switzerland’s win against France on Monday, which allowed them to face Luis Enrique's side in the quarter-finals.
That has put the debate regarding his ability back on lips, with the pair of pundits weighing in.
Discussing the 28-year-old on ITV, Keane highlighted the contrast in his displays for club and country, saying: “Xhaka has been poor for Arsenal for a number of seasons but when he plays for Switzerland he is unbelievable.
“He will be a massive loss to them,” the former Manchester United captain admitted.
“He has been excellent, but you do get a lot more time on the ball in international football and that may play a part in it.”
Souness scathingly added: “He was booked 42 times in five seasons at Arsenal.
“You would have thought at his age he would have learned and matured. He came from the Bundesliga with the same reputation.”
The ex-Liverpool midfielder stated: “I never fancied him at Arsenal, he regularly neglected the basics, but when you have a barnet like that, you need to play well and he has at this tournament.”
Is selling Xhaka a wise decision from Arsenal? Let us know your thoughts.
Xhaka recently dropped another transfer hint following his nation's dramatic penalty shootout victory over the world champions.
The midfielder was asked to do his post-match interview in Italian, with the Swiss captain replying via Goal : "Not yet… it is always interesting to learn a new language.
"Let's see, everyone knows what Roma represent. Now, I am an Arsenal player, I will speak after the tournament.”
Gunners legend Ian Wright has blasted the decision to seemingly sell the midfielder.
The former striker told ITV's Football Show Podcast: "That is the best I’ve ever seen him play [against the French].
"I feel for him because he’s someone I’ve been very critical of in the past and when you see a performance like, do you blame him or the coaches for not getting those performances out of him in the past?
"I have never seen him used to that effect," Wright explained.
"There’s no way Arsenal should be selling a player that can play like that, at that level."
"So unfortunately for us, it looks like he is going but I’m delighted for him because he’s answered a lot of critics. He was magnificent."
Switzerland are now out after a valiant effort against the Spaniards, taking the game to penalties.
Most of the ball and chances went Spain's way, including an eighth-minute own goal, but the Swiss drew level in the second half through Xherdan Shaqiri and go the distance before losing the shootout 3-1.
Vladimir Petkovic's men were the first Switzerland side to reach the quarter-finals since 1954.
