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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Alex Smith

Unai Emery to 'consult Arsenal players' over whether to keep Granit Xhaka as captain

Unai Emery will hold a referendum with Arsenal's players over whether Granit Xhaka will keep the captaincy after his angry reaction to fans.

Midfielder Xhaka was handed the captain's armband in a permanent basis in September, following Laurent Koscielny left for Bordeaux, after Emery consulted his stars.

But the Swiss midfielder's role as skipper is under threat after his reaction to fans while he was being substituted against Crystal Palace on Sunday.

Xhaka was ironically cheered and then booed as he made his way off to be replaced by Bukayo Saka, before he cupped his ears, shouted "f*** off", whipped his shirt off and stormed down the tunnel.

Unai Emery will talk to Arsenal players about Granit Xhaka's future as captain (REUTERS)

It has lead to calls for him to lose the captaincy, and according to the Telegraph, Emery is considering if Xhaka can continue with the armband.

They claim that the manager and player met on Monday to discuss the incident, with the Spaniard now expected to court the opinions of others in his squad over Xhaka's leadership.

Emery had said after the 2-2 draw with Palace: "Now is not the time to talk about that," when asked about Xhaka's future as captain.

Granit Xhaka was booed off by Arsenal fans (Visionhaus)
Xhaka whipped off his shirt before storming down the tunnel (Action Images via Reuters)

Emery added: "He was wrong. We need to stay calm, speak to him internally about that.

"We are working with the club and the players to play under pressure.

"We are going to speak with him because the reaction was wrong.

"We are here because we have supporters. We work for them and need to have respect for them when they are applauding us and criticising us."

According to The Atheltic, claim that Xhaka left the Emirates stadium before the game had finished, although a club spokesman didn't confirm this.

The report added that Xhaka was later visited at his house by three senior Gunners players, who offered him some comfort - but none of the trio are named.

While Hector Bellerin took to Twitter in a bid for unity between players and supporters.

"We are all humans, we all have emotions, and sometimes it's not easy dealing with them," tweeted the Gunners right-back.

"It's time to lift each other up, not to push each other away. We only win when we are together."

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