Arsenal captain Granit Xhaka will not face Wolves in the Premier League as he needs more time to recover from his clash with Gunners’ supporters as he was substituted against Crystal Palace last Sunday, manager Unai Emery has said.
Xhaka taunted Arsenal fans and removed his shirt when storming off the pitch after he was substituted, as well as waving his arms mocking supporters to jeer louder and cupping his ear.
And although he apologised for his actions in an Instagram post on Thursday, Emery has said he is not ready to return to the team against Wolves this weekend.
“The first is the person, the human. Like everyone he feels, Xhaka, with his issues, needs time to recover normality,” Emery said.
“He said sorry, he gave the apology to the supporters and to everybody. Now is the focus on the match.
“We were waiting on Monday and Tuesday [to sort out the captaincy].
“It is not in my mind that he will play tomorrow. I am thinking tomorrow he is not going to play.
“Now we need to be focused 100% only on the match. We are going to do the training today but at the moment it is not in my mind.
“I want to speak about the players who are going to play.”
Emery added that Xhaka’s position as Arsenal captain is uncertain.
“I said we were waiting on Monday, on the last press conference here on Tuesday,” Emery said