Granit Xhaka was born in Basel to Kosovo-Albanian parents and began his career at FC Basel, winning Swiss titles before moving to Borussia Mönchengladbach in 2012. He joined Arsenal in 2016 and spent seven seasons there, captaining the team and winning two FA Cups.
In 2023 he joined Bayer Leverkusen, where he was one of the key players in the unbeaten 2023/24 Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal double under Xabi Alonso. Sunderland signed him in 2025 after their promotion, and he became captain.
Xhaka is Switzerland’s most-capped player and captain. He is a left-footed midfielder known for his passing range, leadership and long-range shooting.
Career in numbers
Across 17 seasons of senior club football, beginning in 2010/11, Xhaka has played 645 matches and scored 42 goals for 5 clubs. The 2022/23 season, with 9 goals from 47 matches for Arsenal, remains his highest tally. His busiest campaign was 2023/24, with 50 appearances. So far in 2026/27 he has made 6 appearances for Sunderland. The full season-by-season record is in the Stats section of this profile.