Arsenal fans have been slammed for showing love and appreciation towards Granit Xhaka, with his past actions described as ‘unforgivable’.
That is according to talkSPORT host Rory Jennings, who has been left scratching his head by how the Gunners faithful have forgiven the 30-year-old.
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Xhaka has swapped Arsenal for Bayer Leverkusen in a £21.5million transfer to bring an end to seven years spent in north London.
A two-time FA Cup winner, the Switzerland international fell out with supporters in the 2019/20 season after he told fans to ‘f*** off’ during a 2-2 draw at home against Crystal Palace.
He then ripped off his shirt and threw the captain’s armband onto the floor, leading Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to replace him as skipper.
All signs pointed towards an exit in the 2020 January transfer window, only for Mikel Arteta to persuade him into staying.
He hasn’t looked back since, with the player and fans boasting a relationship better than ever – with fans even begging the midfielder to stay during their 5-0 win against Wolves on the final day of last campaign in which he scored twice.
Speaking on The Transfer Insiders, host Ade Oladipo praised Xhaka for his incredible turnaround, while stating that Arsenal should have kept him to provide depth.
His colleague Jennings wasn’t having the argument that his Arsenal career has ended positively, as he argued: “I think it’s irrelevant.
“Because I think what we are seeing here, I follow a lot of Arsenal fans on social media, and I’ve been watching them wax lyrical about Granit Xhaka.
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“Talking about the season he’s just had and his contribution and how he turned the fans around and how he re-wrote his own legacy.
“And I think it’s so wrong – totally incorrect – because what Arsenal fans are displaying here is a distinct lack of any principle.
“What Granit Xhaka did to that club is unforgivable – it doesn’t matter what came next. What he did to that club was unforgivable.
“He swore at the fans in their home ground, the fans pay their admissions to get into that stadium, they committed their time and their money to follow their team, and a player on that team swore at them.
“He then followed that up – that tirade that he launched at the fans – with a cardinal sin, an unforgivable sin that should have never, ever been forgotten by Arsenal fans and yet they have.
“The captain’s armband, think about how important that is, think about what it represents that captain’s armband, that’s the spirit of Tony Adams, Thierry Henry, David Rocastle.
“That’s one of the most esteemed bits of material in terms of what it represents in the game, and he launched it – launched it on the floor.
“Who do you think you are? Where’s the principle?”
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Jennings then added of the fans’ U-turn on their appreciation of Xhaka: “Where’s the principle? This is what I was saying about the principle.
“If you want to start throwing the captain’s armband around as if it means nothing, if you want to just treat that captain’s armband as if it is a bit of discarded chewing gum – something to wrap up and throw it on the floor – in front of a packed Emirates.
“I’m baffled that Arsenal fans are showing so much love and adoration to a man that treated their entire club with contempt.”
