Arsenal To Offer Counselling To Captain After His Angry Confrontation With Fans

Arsenal reportedly have offered to counsel their skipper Granit Xhaka after his outburst against their fans on Sunday.

When Arsenal signaled the midfielder's substitution, the home fans present at the Emirates Stadium broke into cheers before the Swiss man was booed off the field in the second half during their 2-2 draw with Crystal Palace in the Premier League.

Xhaka threw his hand in the air, cupped his air and appeared to say "f--k off" to the fans before he removed his shirt and stormed down the players' tunnel.

Arsenal manager Unai Emery said that Xhaka was "devastated" by the situation. "He trained normally with the group but he is devastated. He is sad about that situation. His commitment is great every time. He wants to help. His behavior was perfect in training, with the group and club. Really he knows he was wrong. He feels inside, very deep. It’s normal as a human. Every player needs the supporters’ support," said Emery on Tuesday.

Right after the game, the Gunners boss had asked Xhaka to apologize to the fans: " Yes [he should apologize]. We make mistakes, we need to apologize and we suggested for him to do that. Really, he knows he was wrong and he feels inside very deep."

Although there has been no public apology from Xhaka, Emery is showing patience with his player insisting that he is focussed on Xhaka's mental health more at the moment.

"I don’t need his apology. Because I know he is devastated, we can speak about all the situation but first, it’s him. He is now very down and we need to support him. My ideal future is to watch again Xhaka playing and every supporter supporting him. I don’t know if I can or will achieve it but this is my ideal. Also for him, it’s the same but also I think we need now to be calm step by step so we can progress," Emery added.

While Xhaka is understood to be out for Wednesday night's EFL Cup clash with Liverpool at Anfield, a number of first-team players were anyway going to be rested for that match.