Former Arsenal captain Granit Xhaka has admitted to feeling relief when leaving the North London club for Bayer Leverkusen.
Xhaka had a tough relationship with the club’s supporters over the years.
He had been made captain by boss Unai Emery several years ago, but then fell out with the fans and lost his captaincy.
But he then went on to play a starring role in Mikel Arteta’s team that nearly won a league title two seasons ago.
“My wife was there for the first meeting with Leverkusen,” he said during an Amazon Prime documentary on Leverkusen’s last season, which saw them win the Bundesliga unbeaten.
“I wanted to know how she felt.”
He added: “It was pure relief for me. I said: ‘Yes! It’s not just me who feels that way, but the family too’.”
“I was lucky enough to be booed in 2019, as captain at Arsenal, in front of 60,000 fans,” he elaborated.
“I say lucky because that made me brutally strong.
“I’m grateful that I got out of there. Because it was a dark day for my family, my wife and my parents. I think it was even harder for them than it was for me.”