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Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has revealed that he threatened to axe Granit Xhaka if he did not change his style of play.
Xhaka, 30, has shown significant progress this season under the guidance of Arteta, with the midfielder playing an integral role in Arsenal's strong start to the campaign.
The Switzerland international, who captained his country at the World Cup in Qatar, has provided four goals and three assists in all competitions for Arsenal this season.
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It is some turnaround for Xhaka, who was stripped of the Arsenal captaincy in 2019 under former manager Unai Emery and initially struggled to adapt to Arteta's style of play when the Spaniard was appointed as Emery's replacement.
Arteta reveals Xhaka talks
Arteta has now revealed that he gave Xhaka an ultimatum in the summer, warning him that he would replace him in the squad if he failed to adapt to his demands.
Asked about Xhaka's more advanced role this season, Arteta told Sky Sports: "I think it was a necessity.
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"I think the squad wanted to evolve to another level and be more dominant and have more resources in the final third to attack and to score more goals. We needed to make that change.
"I spoke to him at the end of the season and said, 'I need to unlock something in your brain because you're so comfortable and confident playing in this area that you have forgot what is actually going to win us the game and the team now demands somebody here, so unless you unlock that I'm going to have to do something about it'.
"He took it straight away. He's a very intelligent player, he came to pre-season fitter than ever, slimmer than ever, and he knew that if we wanted to take the team to a different level we had to change his role. He knew that was coming. We believed he has those qualities, those qualities were there to be exploited and they were hiding.
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"The team needed those qualities very much. As I said, he is extremely intelligent, he has the physical capacity to constantly threat and occupy those spaces and recover his position quickly enough to have the balance we need.
"He's been really consistent, the way he trains, the way he practises, to evolve to the demands we want for the team. He's a special person. He's very straight, he's very honest, he's very loyal and he's very passionate about what he does.
"So when you have someone like that you want to help him, you want to protect him, you want him to fulfil the talent he has. He's made some mistakes and he’s learnt from it, but he has always faced adveristy and difficulty and he's never run away from it.
"This is what all managers wants from their players. You know you can count on him, he will fight and break walls for you. This is what we expect from our players."
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Arsenal are currently five points clear of Manchester City at the top of the Premier League table.
They next face London rivals West Ham at the Emirates on Boxing Day before travelling to face Brighton on New Year's Eve.
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Featured Image Credit: AlamyTopics: Arsenal, Mikel Arteta, Granit Xhaka, Football, Premier League