Unai Emery would not be drawn on whether he is considering a recall for Granit Xhaka following his foul-mouthed rant at Arsenal fans last Sunday.
The club captain was left out of the thrilling Carabao Cup penalty shoot-out defeat by Liverpool on Wednesday night.
But after the game, he said: ”Granit Xhaka? Now I cannot say how we are going to play on Saturday. We have to take it step by step.”
The Gunners host Wolves at the Emirates Stadium this weekend looking to bounce back from the disappointing 2-2 home draw with Crystal Palace, where captain Xhaka stole the headlines.
He appeared to tell Arsenal fans to ‘f*** off’ when his second-half substitution was met with jeers by supporters. He cupped his ear to the fans before taking his shirt off and storming straight down the tunnel.
A close friend of Xhaka revealed this week that the Arsenal captain is ‘grief-stricken’ following the
incident.
”I spoke on the phone to Granit after the game. He’s not in a good place – he is grief-stricken’, former Basel academy team-mate Patrik Dibrani told Swiss publication Blick. ”He regretted his actions straight away. He is an emotional person.”Since the incident, Arsenal boss Unai Emery has admitted Xhaka was wrong to react to fans, while supporters have called for him to be stripped of the captain’s armband.
The Gunners have also offered the midfielder counselling in a bid to help him clear his head and move on from the incident.
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Emery confirmed he held talks with Xhaka at the training ground on Tuesday morning following Sunday’s controversial scenes. The Arsenal manager has though refused to confirm whether Xhaka will continue to wear the armband but admitted the midfielder is low.