Arsenal head coach Mikel Arteta has claimed to have convinced Granit Xhaka to change his mind about leaving the club in 2020.
Last year the Swiss international was stripped of the captain's armband by Unai Emery before the Spaniard was dismissed in November.
The midfielder had reacted against fans when they booed him off the pitch in a 2-2 draw with Crystal Palace at the Emirates Stadium.
His number was held up to signal that the Xhaka was to come off and members made clear their displeasure at his performance.
Before he could leave the match he responded to the commotion and later revealed that he had been subjected to abusive messages on social media.
Given how badly the player's relationship had become with fans and the club, he was expected to leave Arsenal in the new year or the summer.
Borussia Monchengladbach, Hertha Berlin and Newcastle United were all linked with the 27-year-old but Arteta has explained how he convinced Xhaka that his future remains with the Gunners.
"The first message for him was that I wanted to understand how he was feeling, why he was feeling that way," he said.
"I wanted him to hear from me my opinion on him, and that I was ready to support him and that I was ready to push the club to be supportive of him too, because I thought he could be a really, really good player for us and he could enjoy playing under me in this football club.
"I tried to convince him that way. He thought about it, he had a very positive response afterwards, and I think he changed his mind."
Xhaka was deployed in a left-sided role in midfield for the first win of Arteta's reign as Arsenal head coach.
The Swiss international shift out into a wider position to allow Sead Kolasinac to push forward from left-back while Ainsley Maitland-Niles tucked in from the right to form a three-man midfield.
With extra help to shield them from harm, this allowed David Luiz and Sokratis Papastathopoulos time to play the ball and more protection at centre-back.
Allowing Xhaka to leave would have left Arsenal in need of a left-footed replacement in order to make Arteta's structure work in and out of possession.
