Granit Xhaka talks about the fallout from Arsenal, Sunderland and success in Germany

Kelly Somers: What was the most difficult point in your career?

Granite Xhaka: I have two difficult moments. The first was when I first moved away from my family when I was about 19 to Germany. It was very difficult for me. Everyone knows how close I am to my family and being away from them was difficult. I didn’t get the minutes I wanted [on the pitch] I wanted to leave in January after six months, but my father was behind me. “If you walk now, you’ll always walk away, so get down and just work,” he said. I did, and everything changed.

The second part is not a big secret. It was in 2019 when I had this… I call it a misunderstanding… with Arsenal fans. Two moments I think I’ve become stronger and better because it’s part of the process. It’s part of writing all of history. On the one hand, very bad. On the one hand, I was lucky to get it.

Kelly: Now that you’re back in the Premier League, have you had a chance to reflect on your time at Arsenal? Because you’ve had some amazing highs as well as some really tough moments…

Granite: Generally, I think people only think about this moment in 2019. But I came in 2016, so being part of a football club for seven years makes me proud… It’s not easy to be at this level for seven years. And of course, when I left Arsenal it was a difficult decision for me and my family because we were happy there. But I got another offer on the table as I was thinking bigger [ahead] than it was at this moment. To be honest, I wasn’t expecting to be back in the Premier League again after two years. This was not the plan for me or our family.

Kelly: So you never wanted to come back?

Granite: It’s not that I didn’t want to, but it wasn’t planned. When I moved from Arsenal, I signed a five-year contract with Leverkusen. So everything was planned around what would happen five years later. But I always say in football, you never know where you will be tomorrow.

Kelly: Why did you come back then?

Granite: Even the people closest to me were saying: ‘Why would you go back to the Premier League to join Sunderland?’ I came back because I love a challenge and I had a feeling I needed a new challenge. After two years in Germany, where we won almost everything in the first year, we were unbeaten in the Bundesliga, won the cup, and lost the Europa League final, which was very painful. I had a feeling with the owner when I spoke to them – with the club, with the coach – this is the club for me, because the people are very humble. It’s a small town like where I grew up. I just wanted to get back to reality which I believe is the right direction for myself and my family. I’m just happy that right now everything is going the way I wanted it to.

Kelly: You must have expected things to go well, otherwise you wouldn’t have come here. But did it exceed your expectations?

Granite: The first thing I said to the club was: ‘I’m not coming here to play in the Premier League for a year and then get relegated, because I’m leaving a club that is in the Champions League.’ I’m coming here to advance this project.

Kelly: I find it fascinating, because you must have had other offers to return to the Premier League.

Granite: It’s been a busy summer, honestly! I am 33, I talked to my brother and said, “I’ve never had so many offers!” The summer was very busy because every day someone else would come. But I decided for myself – after a 20-minute call to the owner – that I wanted to go to Sunderland. I was so sure.