Arsenal's Granit Xhaka refuses captain's armband vs Brentford

Granit Xhaka threatened to overshadow Arsenal’s 2-1 win over Brentford by refusing to accept the captain’s armband.

Xhaka, infamously stripped of Arsenal’s captaincy in 2019, didn’t want the armband when teammate Eddie Nketiah offered it to him following Alexandre Lacazette’s substitution. 

The incident prompted Arsenal fan and TV host Piers Morgan to hit out at the lack of leadership at the Emirates Stadium since Patrick Vieira’s departure in 2005.

“Xhaka refusing to take the armband perfectly sums up Arsenal’s biggest problem: since Vieira left, we’ve never had a proper captain/leader,” Morgan wrote on Twitter.

Xhaka refusing to take the armband perfectly sums up Arsenal’s biggest problem: since Vieira left, we’ve never had a proper captain/leader.

The armband eventually went to Kieran Tierney.

Xhaka’s relationship with the captaincy at Arsenal has been frosty to say the least.

While both parties have moved on, his clash with the club’s supporters during a draw against Crystal Palace in October 2019 won’t be forgotten.

It led to Unai Emery stripping the Swiss midfielder of the armband, and he didn’t want it back when it was offered to him during the win against Brentford.