5 worst Arsenal players of 2017

#1 Granit Xhaka

Granit Xhaka has been in terrible form

For years, Arsenal fans and many in the football media had pointed out that the club needed an authoritative midfielder, who could dictate play, make interceptions in the middle of the park and control the game. Arsenal eventually decided to spend and bought Swiss midfielder Granit Xhaka from Bundesliga side Borussia Monchengladbach for a cool £35 million.

Xhaka had troubles in his first season and while it could be excused due to the fact that it was his first season in England, his performance in 2017 has actually been poorer. Xhaka has neither been able to control the play from deep much nor has he shown any particular skills for breaking up play and worst of all, he often gets dispossessed at the worst possible positions.

It might sound strange that a player who was touted to be the next big deep-lying playmaker has turned into Arsenal's worst player this year. Xhaka might have scored a thumping goal against Liverpool the other day but that only papers over his costly mistakes in this season so far.

In the very first game against Leicester City, he misplaced a pass and gifted the visitors a goal. The same happened in the away loss at Stoke. Tom Cleverley's injury-time winner away at Watford could have been prevented had Xhaka not been picking his nose and was instead tracking the player's run. It is perhaps time for Arsenal to think whether they should replace him or carry him till the end of the season.