Arsenal star vows to ‘recovery quickly’ after Gunners suffer fresh injury blow

Arsenal star Granit Xhaka has vowed to make a swift recovery after suffering an injury setback during Switzerland’s dramatic 3-3 Euro 2020 qualifying draw with Denmark.

Xhaka started for his country in Basel on Tuesday night and doubled their lead with a stunning right-footed strike from the edge of the box as the Swiss looked to be cruising to all three points having led 3-0 with less than 10 minutes to go.

However, the Arsenal midfielder was forced off in the 79th minute with a thigh injury and his exit sparked a sensational comeback from Denmark as the visitors scored three goals in the final six minutes to snatch a dramatic 3-3 draw.

Switzerland boss Vladimir Petkovic confirmed after the Euro 2020 Group D qualifier that Xhaka had asked to be substituted after complaining of a thigh problem.

He’s quoted as saying by Football London:

“Xhaka could not stay on the pitch. He asked me ten minutes before to be replaced. Granit had adductor problems, he could not do any more.”

Xhaka is now back in London and he took to social media on Wednesday evening to confirm he’s already started his treatment as he looks to ‘recover quickly’ from the injury setback.

View this post on Instagram

Back in London but still unhappy that we didn’t secure the three points in the EURO qualifiers against Denmark. It is always painful not to be able to go the full distance but I pushed myself as hard as I could until I had to ask for my substitution in the 79th minute. After not being able to finish the match fighting with my teammates, I will have the first treatment still tonight to make sure to recover quickly. Wieder in London angekommen ärgere ich mich immer noch darüber, dass es gestern für uns nicht zu drei Punkten im EURO Quali-Spiel gegen Dänemark gereicht hat. Es tut immer weh, nicht die vollen Partie durchspielen zu können… daher habe ich versucht so lange wie irgendwie möglich durchzuhalten um der Mannschaft zu helfen aber in der 79 Minute ging es nicht mehr und ich musste ausgewechselt werden.

A post shared by Granit Xhaka (@granitxhaka) on Mar 27, 2019 at 12:42pm PDT

The 26-year-old will have the injury further assessed by the Arsenal medical team at London Colney but Unai Emery will be praying it’s nothing serious as Xhaka has been a key player under the Spaniard this season.

He’s remained a firm fixture in the Arsenal midfield despite the arrivals of Lucas Torreira and Matteo Guendouzi last summer so it would be a big blow if the Swiss international was ruled out for any significant period of time.

Xhaka will now be considered as a major doubt for Monday night’s Premier League clash with Newcastle United at the Emirates as Arsenal look to cement their position in the top four and keep the pressure on third-placed Tottenham with a win.

Elsewhere, Nacho Monreal will need to be assessed after sitting out Arsenal’s warm weather training camp in Dubai with a calf injury but Sokratis and Sead Kolasinac recovered from minor knocks to play in Bosnia’s 2-2 draw with Greece on Tuesday night.