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Arsenal midfielder Granit Xhaka has agreed a move back to the Bundesliga with Hertha Berlin.
The 27 year old Swiss international has wanted to leave the Premier League club since being stripped of the captaincy in the wake of his furious reaction to being substituted in the league game against Crystal Palace at the Emirates in October.
At that time there was speculation he would never play for the club again, but he was recalled by interim coach Freddie Ljundberg, and now new manager Mikel Arteta has told him how much he values him, and views him as an important part of his team.
Despite that, Xhaka still wants to leave, with his agent Joel Noguera saying “Look, I will say it frankly and honestly, we are in agreement with Hertha BSC and would like to go to Berlin”.
Xhaka signed for Arsenal from Borussia Monchoengladbach in May 2016 and has gone on to make 150 appearances for them, scoring 11 times.
Andy is an exiled English football fan living in Cyprus. He loves all sports but football is his abiding passion, and he still has dreams every now and then about scoring the winning goal in a Wembley Cup Final, even though his playing days are long gone. He follows most major leagues, across Europe at least, and has a favoured team in each. When he’s not watching, listening, reading or downloading podcasts about football, he spend his time worrying about his beloved Arsenal.