The Switzerland captain met London and the Gunners on Wednesday night in a pre-season game against Bayer Leverkusen. The reception was warm.

Thirteen months and a day after leaving Arsenal for Bayer Leverkusen, Granit left England and the reigning German champions.

While the Gunners largely dominated the debate (winning 4-1), the Switzerland captain endured an emotional evening. The Basel midfielder, who played 297 times for the red and white between 2016 and 2023, was greeted with respect and recognition.

Before the game, large screens in the London venue displayed the message “Welcome back Granit” as well as a giant photograph of the 31-year-old, appropriately dated from his time at Arsenal.

The Bayer Leverkusen midfielder, record appearance holder for the Swiss national team (130 caps, 14 goals), made way for his Colombian teammate Gustavo Puerta in the 80th minute to a thunderous applause from the Emirates public stadium. Even better: the crowd rose as he left the pitch, where Granit Xhaka fell into the arms of his former manager Mikel Arteta for a warm embrace.

This beautiful moment was by far not the last kind gesture of the evening made by the former FC Basel and Borussia Mönchenladbach player. Because the latter was once again called out from all sides when the final whistle blew, especially by his former team-mates Gabriel Martinelli and Oleksandr Zinchenko.

That bleak Sunday in October 2019, when the Swiss threw his captain’s armband to the ground, stripped off his shirt and hurled abuse at the Gunners fans in response to the bronca they had given him, seems firmly in the past.