ARSENAL MANAGER UNAI Emery has confirmed that Granit Xhaka will captain the side on a permanent basis after he was voted ahead of four other team-mates in the leadership group to take charge.

The midfielder, who already captained the Switzerland national team, was chosen ahead of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Hector Bellerin, Alexandre Lacazette and Mesut Ozil to wear the armband.

The 27-year-old has made over a hundred appearances for the club since he signed from Borussia Monchengladbach in 2016, where he helped them to the FA Cup in his first season, and came out ahead of his fellow Gunners in a blind ballot conducted by the squad at the Emirates Stadium.

Speaking on his appointment, Emery, who has previously chosen to rotate the armband during his tenure at the club, noted that the Basel-born playmaker would bring expertise to the position, and backed him to challenge his critics from outside the club who feel that he should have been passed over for the role.

“Xhaka is mature [and] he has experience,” the Spaniard stated. “In the dressing room, the players voted him first for the leadership.”

Regarding his sceptics, he added: “I spoke with him, [and] we want to change that opinion [of him].

“The respect he has is important, but [he can now] also show that he can keep moving ahead in playing, improving behaviour, commitment.

“I trust and believe in him. He is a good man, [a] professional. Sometimes he makes a mistake. [The] most important thing is to learn and correct those mistakes. His challenge is to change that opinion, improve in each match and giving us his help each time.”

- Omni