Some ‘dark days and nights’ at Arsenal, happiness at Sunderland – Granit Xhaka opens up in The Football Interview

In a candid and wide-ranging conversation for the BBC’s new series The Football Interview, Granit Xhaka has described the “dark nights” he endured at Arsenal and explained why a surprise return to the Premier League with Sunderland has restored his joy for the game.

The 33-year-old Switzerland midfielder, currently sidelined by injury, has been instrumental in Sunderland’s impressive start to life back in the top flight after an eight-year absence. Yet it is the seven turbulent seasons he spent at Arsenal, from 2016 to 2023, that still cast the longest shadow over his career.

“There were dark days and dark nights,” Xhaka tells host Kelly Somers, reflecting on the fallout with sections of the Emirates crowd in October 2019 that saw him stripped of the club captaincy. “Every time these things came up I just wanted to deal with it alone – looking to myself and saying: ‘Why has this happened? Why is it me? What did I do wrong to the people?’”

Despite winning two FA Cups and reaching a Europa League final with Arsenal, Xhaka believes the incident defines him in too many minds. “People just think about this moment in 2019,” he says. “But to be part of a football club for seven years makes me proud.”

Mikel Arteta, the current Arsenal manager, is credited with reviving Xhaka’s fortunes. “He was the guy who kept me in the football club,” Xhaka says. “I will never forget what he did for me.”

After leaving north London, Xhaka signed a five-year deal at Bayer Leverkusen and promptly helped the German club win a league-and-cup double. A planned long-term stay was cut short when Sunderland’s ambitious owners persuaded him to return to England.

“I came back because I love the challenge,” he explains. “After 20 minutes on the call with the owner I wanted to go to Sunderland. I’m not coming here to play one year and go down. I’m coming to push this project.”

Xhaka’s combative reputation precedes him – “Everyone hates you,” laughed Dutch defender Lutsharel Geertruida after a recent Bundesliga encounter – yet the midfielder insists the image is only half the story. “I’m maybe different on the pitch. I just want to win. After the game I think I’m the easiest guy you can meet.”

Away from football, Xhaka credits his parents – who fled Yugoslavia and rebuilt their lives in Switzerland – for instilling humility and resilience. His father, imprisoned for three-and-a-half years for political reasons, advised teenage Granit to “head down and just work” when homesickness struck after first moving to Germany at 19. The lesson stuck.

Now, with Sunderland exceeding expectations and his family settled in the north-east, Xhaka is adamant he has never been happier. “I just want to see the smile on their face,” he says of his wife and children, revealing that he still cannot sleep alone in the bedroom when they are away. “I hate to be alone – maybe because of the dark nights I had.”

As for the future, Xhaka refuses to look beyond tomorrow. “Everything I achieve today was a big dream. I achieved maybe much more than God wanted for me. I’m very, very thankful.”

The full interview airs on BBC One at 23:55 GMT on Saturday 7 February (00:55 Sunday in Scotland) and will be available on BBC iPlayer, BBC Sounds and the BBC Sport website.