Granit Xhaka #10

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Captain, record-breaker and the manager’s right-hand man: Granit Xhaka is the undisputed leader of the national team at his seventh major tournament – both on and off the pitch. In the March friendlies against Germany and Norway, the captain was rested for three quarters of the two matches. “We have to be prepared to play without him at times, or when he is marked man-to-man, as he was against Germany,” said Murat Yakin. After a difficult start to their relationship, the pair are now very close. The midfielder has been around for some time now. In 2011, Ottmar Hitzfeld threw the then 18-year-old Xhaka in at the deep end at Wembley during a Euro qualifier against England and the Under-17 World Cup winner is now the record holder for international caps in his country with more than 140 appearances. Many felt that his career was on the way down when he joined Bayer Leverkusen in 2023 after seven years at Arsenal but it was the opposite - and as Xabi Alonso’s leader on the pitch he took the club to a first ever Bundesliga title, won the Cup and reached the Europa League final. Now back in England, he says: “It’s important for me to experience moments of suffering and solidarity too.” His parents are from Kosovo; his father, Ragip, was arrested in 1986 at the age of 22 during a demonstration against the communist central government

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