We’re calling it now – Granit Xhaka has just won this year’s Puskas Award

Few elite-level footballers have enjoyed a late-career renaissance to match Granit Xhaka’s over recent years.

From telling Arsenal fans to f*ck off in 2019 – while wearing the captain’s armband – Xhaka has transformed himself from the walking definition of a liability into a midfielder who is always 10% better than you might think.

His turnaround began at Arsenal, when incoming manager Mikel Arteta stood by the Switzerland international and reintroduced him into the first-team as a key player. Xhaka repaid Arteta’s faith with a string of inspirational performances.

The move to Bayer Leverkusen in the summer of 2023 felt like the perfect time for both player and club to part ways; Arteta wanted a more progressive midfielder, while Xhaka needed a continuation in feeling wanted at club level.

While the Gunners faltered in their title bid last year, Xhaka went from strength to strength in Germany. His first season at Leverkusen saw him run their midfielder under Xabi Alonso’s watchful eye and win both the Bundesliga and German Cup.

Xhaka is an invincible – and carried that form into Euro 2024, where he inspired Switzerland to the quarter-finals.

It has taken just 12 minutes of the 2024-25 campaign for the 31-year-old to reassert himself as one of the finest midfielders in European football with a goal that surely deserves its place on the Puskas shortlist this year.

During the Bundesliga match against his former club Borussia Monchengladbach, Xhaka ran onto a half-cleared Jeremie Frimpong cross and walloped the ball with the heat of a thousand suns into the top corner.

NASA missiles have travelled at less speed trying to break out of the earth’s atmosphere. The Gladbach keeper was beaten before his brain registered the fact he needed to move.

It was a goal deserving of an entire dictionary’s worth of platitudes, one that Shakespeare would’ve based a play around or that Leanardo da Vinci would’ve rushed to commit to canvas.

A goal to reaffirm the greatness of our sport – never mind transitions and vertical passing, nothing beats a long-range screamer from distance. Bosh.

“MY GOODNESS!” 🤯

What a STRIKE from Granit Xhaka! 🚀 pic.twitter.com/zgBQQUHFKX

— Sky Sports Football (@SkyFootball) August 23, 2024

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Speaking with AFP at the club’s pre-season training camp, Xhaka said that last season’s incredible success was just the beginning for Leverkusen.

“We know people are hoping to beat us, they will try and they will do everything. But we still have the hunger to be where we were last season,” he said.

After the best 18 months of his career, the 31-year-old said criticism during his time at Arsenal spurred him on.

While much of the criticism can be chalked up to frustrations from a success-starved fanbase, he said it has been instrumental in his rebirth at Leverkusen.

“I’m a fan of criticism because criticism makes you stronger. This is what I believe. I don’t drop my head, but I look at what they are criticising, and maybe I need to do something more, or change some things. I believe every player needs to go through criticism,” he said.

“You need to be strong in your head, and to believe and trust yourself that you can still do it.

“Ten years ago, I was a totally different type of player, much more emotional. Today, I’m less emotional. I believe that experience makes you [who you are],” he added.

With one eye on the future, Xhaka started his FA coaching badges while at Arsenal and is also an assistant coach at fifth-tier Union Nettetal.

“[The traineeship] helped me a lot, because a coach maybe thinks more far ahead than a player [does],” he said.

At Leverkusen, Xhaka said, “The most important thing is that the coach trusts me, believes in me and [the influence] I can have on the team during the game. We lose, we win together. And if I can try and help the coach on the pitch, I will do it for sure.”

While Xhaka is wise to look to the future, we would advise he simply enjoys the present while his career is at his zenith. And let us be the first to congratulate him on his upcoming Puskas victory.

By Michael Lee