Arsenal 28yo claims he can replace Granit Xhaka | OneFootball

Leandro Trossard thinks he’s capable of playing the role Granit Xhaka played for Arsenal last season, after receiving Mikel Arteta’s backing.

Leandro Trossard has been one of Arsenal’s consistent performers in recent weeks, chipping in with some key goals and assists for the side.

Speaking in his press conference on Tuesday, Mikel Arteta was clearly pleased with what he’s seen from the Belgian.

“I think he’s a tremendous player, that has great talent and especially great intelligence to play the way we want to play, so he’s a really good fit for us,” Arteta said.

The question now is where Trossard is best utilised by Arteta, having played a variety of roles for the Spanish head coach in his first year at the club.

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Trossard has played in a centre-forward role at times, as well as featuring out on the left in Gabriel Martinelli’s absence, but most recently he’s found himself in midfield for club and country.

Following the summer departure of Granit Xhaka, a few different players have attempted to nail down that left-central-midfield role, and it’s a position Trossard thinks he can excel in.

“It’s a position I can handle as well,” Trossard said. “I’ve played there with the Belgian national team.

“If I can get a run it’s different but I need to be switched on because it can change every week. It’s based on the game plan.

“Not every team plays the same system and the manager thinks a lot about those things so it’s up to me to keep going and pushing to have game time.”

With Trossard playing such limited minutes in midfield so far this season, it’s hard to say how well it could work.

But if it would allow Trossard to join Gabriel Martinelli, Gabriel Jesus, and Bukayo Saka in making regular starts, that would certainly give Arsenal plenty of potential attacking threats in the lineup.

The 28-year-old was unfortunate to have strayed just marginally offside before scoring against Brentford at the weekend, and he impressed on one or two occasions playing the role in pre-season as well.

It remains to be seen whether Trossard will get another chance in that position against Lens on Wednesday night.