Granit Xhaka age, salary, net worth, girlfriend, football Career and more
Granit Xhaka is a Swiss professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Premier League club Arsenal and captains the Switzerland national team. He is often regarded as one of the best midfielders in the world. He has been playing football since he was a child and he has an incredible vision of the game.
Granit Xhaka is known for his creative and offensive style of play which has led him to be regarded as one of the best players in the world. Here, we take a closer look at Granit Xhaka’s age, salary, and net worth in 2022, Playing Position, height, Current Team, girlfriend, facts, house, Individual Awards, football career so far, and much more.
Who Is Granit Xhaka?
Granit Xhaka (born 27 September 1992) is a Swiss professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Premier League club Arsenal and captains the Switzerland national team.
Xhaka began his career at local club Basel, winning the Swiss Super League in each of his first two seasons. He then moved to Bundesliga side Borussia Mönchengladbach in 2012, developing a reputation as a technically gifted player and natural leader along with criticism for his temperament.
He was named captain of Borussia Mönchengladbach in 2015 at the age of 22, leading the team to qualify for the UEFA Champions League for the second consecutive season. He completed a high-profile transfer to Arsenal in May 2016 for a fee of around £30m.
Xhaka was part of the Swiss squad that won the 2009 FIFA U-17 World Cup. He made his senior debut in 2011 and has won more than 100 caps, representing the nation at the 2014 and 2018 FIFA World Cups, and at the UEFA European Championship in 2016 and 2020.
Granit Xhaka Facts
| Full Name | Granit Xhaka |
| Profession | Footballer |
| Date of Birth & Age | 27 September 1992 (age 29) |
| Birth Place | Basel, Switzerland |
| Marital Status | midfielder |
| Hometown & Country | Basel, Switzerland |
| Height | 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in) |
Granit Xhaka Early Life
Granit Xhaka was born on September 27, 1992, in Basel, Switzerland, to an ethnic Albanian family from Podujevo, Kosovo, then part of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
The family moved from Podujevo to Basel, Switzerland that year, where Granit and his older brother Taulant Xhaka were born.
Granit Xhaka Current Team
He is currently playing for Arsenal.
Granit Xhaka Age
He is 29 years old.
Granit Xhaka Girlfriend
What is Granit Xhaka Playing Position?
He plays as a midfielder in his team.
Granit Xhaka Salary and Net Worth in 2022
Granit Xhaka earns £100,000 a week, £5,200,000 a year playing for Arsenal F.C. like DM. Granit Xhaka’s net worth is £36,140,000. His current contract expires on June 30, 2024.
Granit Xhaka Football Career
Here, we take a closer look at Granit Xhaka’s Football career so far.
Club Career
Revealed by small club Concordia from Basel, Xhaka joined FC Basel in 2002 at the age of nine, along with his older brother Taulant, who had also spent time in both clubs’ youth academies. After eight years in the lower categories of “RotBlau”, he was promoted to the main squad in 2010 at just 17 years old.
His performances made the then Basel manager Thorsten Fink surrender to the talent of the young athlete: “Xherdan Shaqiri is the most talented player in Switzerland… after Xhaka.” The coach of the Swiss national team, with which Xhaka made his debut in 2011, considered him the “new Schweinsteiger”.
In May 2012, Xhaka was announced as a new signing from Borussia Mönchengladbach, whose value was not mentioned by the club. It is estimated that the signing of the midfielder cost 8.5 million euros.
Arsenal
On 25 May 2016, Arsenal signed Xhaka from Borussia Mönchengladbach for a fee of around £30–35 million. Xhaka was signed after Arsenal allegedly backed out of the N’Golo Kanté’s transfer due to agent fees involved which totaled more than £10 million. Xhaka made his first appearance for Arsenal (as a half-time substitution) in a 2–1 win against the MLS All-Stars.
Granit Xhaka made his competitive debut for Arsenal in the club’s opening match of the 2016–17 Premier League season, a 4–3 defeat to Liverpool, replacing midfielder Mohamed Elneny in the 65th minute while also picking up a yellow card in the process. His first goal for the club came on 17 September 2016, a 25-yard thunderbolt in a 4–1 Premier League victory against Hull City. Four days later, he would score again from distance, this time from 30 yards in a 4–0 EFL Cup defeat of Nottingham Forest.
Xhaka’s first Arsenal red card – and eighth for club and country since April 2014 – came in a 3–2 win over Swansea City on 15 October 2016. On 22 January 2017, Xhaka was sent off for the second time in the season, by referee Jon Moss, in Arsenal’s 2–1 home win against Burnley. After his first goal for the club in September, he would not score in the Premier League again until doing so in May, scoring the first goal of a 2–0 victory over Manchester United, ending United’s run of 25 consecutive games unbeaten.
Granit Xhaka went on to feature throughout Arsenal’s triumphant FA Cup campaign. As so he started in the Cup final against Chelsea which the Gunners won 2–1. Xhaka also played in the 2017 Community Shield that Arsenal won on penalties over Chelsea. His first goal of the 2017–18 season came in a 3–3 draw with Liverpool, Xhaka scored a 25-yard thunderbolt to take Arsenal from 2–1 to 2–2.
On 15 September 2018, Xhaka scored the first goal, from a direct free kick, in a 2–1 victory against Newcastle United. On 28 October 2018, he scored again from a free kick against Crystal Palace.
On 13 January 2022, Xhaka received a red card in an EFL Cup semi-final first-leg tie against Liverpool. It was his fifth overall red card in his Arsenal career.
The match eventually ended goallessly. Xhaka scored his first goal of the 2021-22 season with a long-range strike from 25 yards out, which helped seal a 3–1 victory over Manchester United at the Emirates Stadium.
His stunning strike was eventually named winner of the club’s annual Goal of the Season.
Xhaka scored his first goal of the 2022-23 season, with a third goal from close range against Leicester in a 4–2 victory during their first home game of the season at the Emirates Stadium.
In that game, he was often the furthest man forward during attacks as opposed to deeper in midfield where he usually plays, providing a different dimension to cause the opponents issues and stated in his post-match interview that he was enjoying the greater “freedom from the coach to go up and down” the pitch.
International career
Switzerland youth squads
Granit Xhaka has played for the Swiss youth squad at the U-17 level. He participated in the Under-17 World Cup in 2009 in Nigeria. The Swiss team won the World Cup.
He played his first game for the Switzerland national under-19 football team on 25 May 2010, as a substitute, as the team beat Austria national under-19 football team 3–2 in Schwaz, Austria. He scored his first goal for the U-19 on 7 September 2010 as the team won 3–0 against the Czech Republic.
Switzerland under-21
Granit Xhaka played his first game for the under-21 side on 3 September 2010, as a substitute, as the team beat the Republic of Ireland 1–0 at the Cornaredo Stadium in Lugano. This was the last game in the qualification Group 2 to the 2011 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship.
Xhaka was a member of the Swiss U-21 squad that competed in the final tournament, hosted by Denmark, between 11 and 25 June 2011. The Swiss team reached the final without conceding a goal, but lost to Spain 2–0.
Switzerland senior team
Before making his international debut for Switzerland, Xhaka was still undecided whether to play for his birth country or Albania, and he complained to the Albanian sports media that FSHF was ignoring him while the Swiss Football Association was showing much more interest.
Xhaka debuted for Switzerland at Wembley Stadium against England in a 2–2 UEFA Euro 2012 qualification draw on 4 June 2011. On 15 November 2011, during his sixth international appearance, he scored his first international goal in the 1–0 away win against Luxembourg at the Stade Josy Barthel.
Switzerland also tried to select Xhaka to participate in the 2012 Olympic Football tournament, but he opted to stay at his new club for pre-season training. He participated in all ten of Switzerland‘s 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification campaign matches, scoring both goals in a 2–0 defeat of Slovenia. On 2 June 2014, Xhaka was named to Switzerland’s 2014 World Cup squad by national coach Ottmar Hitzfeld. In the team’s second match, Xhaka scored in a 5–2 loss to France.
Granit Xhaka was selected for Euro 2016, where Switzerland’s campaign opened against Albania in Lens. Xhaka, whose team won 1–0, was playing against his brother Taulant. He was voted the man of the match. Xhaka played every minute of Switzerland’s campaign, which ended in the round of 16 with a loss to Poland at the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard; after a 1–1 draw he was the only player to not score in the penalty shootout, shooting wide.
Ahead of the 2018 World Cup qualifiers, there was speculation that Xhaka could switch his allegiance to represent Kosovo, which had been accepted as a full member of FIFA and was allowed to play competitive matches for the first time. Xhaka, however, published an open letter stating that his participation in Euro 2016 had disqualified him from changing his allegiance, and he was thus tied to Switzerland
Xhaka was named in manager Vladimir Petković’s 23-man Swiss squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. On 22 June, he equalized with a long-range strike as the Swiss came from behind to defeat Serbia 2–1 in their second game. He and fellow goalscorer Xherdan Shaqiri, who is also of Kosovan descent, celebrated their goals by making an eagle gesture resembling the double-headed eagle of the Albanian flag. FIFA fined each player 10,000 Swiss francs “for unsporting behavior contrary to the principles of fair play”.
Granit Xhaka was appointed as a temporary captain by Vladimir Petković in the absence of Stephan Lichtsteiner, which caused him to be criticized by former Swiss international Stéphane Henchoz, who claimed that Xhaka could not properly represent Switzerland due to his Albanian heritage, instead suggesting that Lichtsteiner, Yann Sommer, or Fabian Schär serve as captain. In September 2019, Xhaka offered his captaincy to Xherdan Shaqiri in an effort to get him to return to the national side.
Individual Awards
Swiss League Best Young Player: 2012
Interesting Facts about Granit Xhaka
- The fact was not viewed favorably by most Swiss fans.
- Xhaka is Muslim.
Summary
The article discusses Granit Xhaka age, salary and net worth in 2022, Playing Position, height, Current Team, girlfriend, facts, house, Individual Awards, football Career so far, and much more.
