The Switzerland worldwide has only started two matches since signing from Borussia Monchengladbach for a reported £35million and came off the bench for the final 19 minutes of the 1-1 draw away to Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League on Tuesday.
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“Every week he [Xhaka] is stronger and better”.
Arsene Wenger had been due to hold today’s Arsenal press conference at 9am but it has since been delayed until 12.30pm.
“He has the stature, the power the strength”. For many players it took them some time to get into the team.
“Look, in one or two occasions [he struggled]”. As well I think he has the engine to have an impact with his runs. Him and [Mohamed] Elneny are top players. I personally prefer him as a box-to-box player. “And they are top, top quality”.
Wenger is unsure about the availability of Theo Walcott for the weekend visit to the KC Stadium and revealed Olivier Giroud sustained a toe injury before being sent off shortly after coming on against PSG.
Wenger said Xhaka remains a big part of his plans, but hinted that he may continue with a central partnership of Santi Cazorla and Francis Coquelin for Saturday’s trip to Hull. Gabriel is back in training.
“If I was Olivier Giroud, I’d be a little concerned not to have started against Paris Saint-Germain”, Keown wrote in The Daily Mail.
“At the start Giroud was a bit behind fitness-wise compared to Koscielny and Ozil [after Euro 2016]”.
“Since the last week, he’s slowly getting back to full fitness now”.
“Cech will be back, yes”.
“The decision [to play Ospina against PSG] was questioned”.
The 20-year old said, “I had the chance to score, but my main focus was to get it on target and also beat the goalkeeper, but it was a good save and I was unfortunate not to get the goal”.
“More and more clubs [alternate keepers]”. They go into Saturday’s game level on points with Arsenal and Wenger praised their caretaker manager Mike Phelan, who has been offered the job on a permanent basis.
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“He’s experienced after working at big clubs in big competitions”. “He’s a real football man who’s given some stability to Hull who are hard to beat”.
