No but if you were told we’d be swapping Xhaka for Neves you’d have probably felt optimistic about it that way
Truth be told I’m not that interested in minor upgrades, I think we need a few difference maker type signings.
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Just getting Xhaka out of the club is a major upgrade
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Agreed, I’m not sure that type of signing is possible in central midfield for us at the moment though because I don’t think there’s a player of that level out there who would be joining us.
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Nah see I don’t have an agenda against him like most, he has his flaws and isn’t good enough to get us where we want, but he isn’t as bad as most Arsenal fans make out, as you’ll notice when he doesn’t play our results are generally worse.
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Okayish player, stable but isn’t elevating us. Can’t be bothered.
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People absolutely kill you if you point this out as well. I think it’s vastly underestimated how badly we’ve relied on him at times, which is a problem in and of itself but also shows you that he’s a better player than he often gets credit for. It won’t be an easy thing replacing him this summer if he leaves and that’s the truth.
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There are plenty overseas imo.
He’s literally horrendous, dude’s a walking calamity. He’s cost us five goals according to mistakes alone, while Neves has cost Wolves none. That in itself is a massive step in the right direction, not to mention Neves is better at all the stuff people praise Xhaka for, his forward balls are more penetrating and he’s better in the tackle. I don’t even particularly like Neves but anyone who thinks Xhaka is important to us isn’t paying enough attention.
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It’s an easy thing too replace tactics wise though and key to our future.
Period of time when Arteta first came we created the midfield around him.
This accounts for a lot of our problems even now. It’s easier to develop without him. Even Neves would improve this situation as he’s more mobile alone.
Basically Xhaka with better pressure stats, but we’re a possession based team so not sure how that will play into our “style”. Also I mistakenly thought he was great at long shots, turns out he’s only scored 4 which is the same number as Xhaka but he’s taken like 4 times the amount of shots 
this has to be a joke signing.
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Who? Right now which midfielders in the so called top bracket would you say we would have a chance of luring this summer?
Totally agree, we should have moved on from Xhaka two seasons ago. I think the problem is more that we’ve built the team around him and made him so integral to us rather than with the player himself though, he shouldn’t have ever been made this important to us and that’s a big part of the problem.
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So he’s a lot better at defensive pressure, but not as good a passer.
Obviously those metrics make it much of a muchness, Xhaka better at certain things, Neves better at certain things, both have substantial flaws.
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He’s a much better passer then Xhaka on the eye test alone. Statistically speaking someone mentioned that he’s also better than Xhaka with progressive accurate % -less back passes.
Let me get this clear.
I want Xhaka upgraded.
I don’t want that to be with Neves.
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Me either but I’d still rather Neves in the team than Xhaka.
Don’t worry, that’ll neves happen
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Really depends on the expense. Neves being quoted at £30m+
Sell Xhaka for 25 and bring him in for 30. We could do worse. We could also do much better but I think if this signing was on the cards last year people would be a lot more interested. He’s had a sleepy season with Wolves and his stock has fallen but he’s not a bad player.
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