Xhaka refused to take the armband after Alexandre Lacazette was substituted
Granit Xhaka refused to take the captain’s armband during Arsenal’s win against Brentford on Saturday.
The midfielder was offered the armband after the club’s current captain Alexandre Lacazette was substituted for Eddie Nketiah towards the end of the 2-1 win.
Lacazette instead had given the armband to his replacement, Nketiah, who eventually passed it on to Kieran Tierney after the Swiss international rejected it.
Sky Sports’ Michael Dawson talked through the situation on Soccer Saturday as he said: “I’m surprised by what I’ve seen here.
“So Lacazette’s been taken off here, Eddie Nketiah’s come on. Because Lacazette’s captain, he’s given the armband to Nketiah, Nketiah then goes to Xhaka, to give it to him.
Xhaka says ‘I don’t want it.’ Very very surprised. So Nketiah puts it back on, he then tries to give it [to Xhaka], he looks uncomfortable with it, so he goes on to give it to Kieran Tierney.”
"Lacazette gives the armband to Nketiah, he then goes to Xhaka… Xhaka says I don't want it!" 😳
Mass confusion over the Arsenal captaincy… pic.twitter.com/Sau64YaHwp
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) February 19, 2022
The 29-year-old had been captain of the Gunners previously but was stripped of the role in 2019 after he was seen telling fans to ‘f**k off’ as well as throwing the armband to the floor when substituted during a 2-2 draw against Crystal Palace.
Xhaka has worn the armband since then – taking on captaincy duty in the return game against Palace at Selhurst Park that season after Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Lacazette had been substituted but is no longer considered the club captain.
Arsenal were able to win the game 2-1 after second-half strikes from Emile Smith-Rowe and Bukayo Saka cancelled out Christian Christian Norgaard’s late consolation.
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