GRANIT XHAKA has laid naked his gruelling childhood story from rising up in a working class household.
The ex-Arsenal midfielder was born in Basel, Switzerland, to Albanian parents who migrated from Besiane, Kosovo, two years earlier than Xhaka was born.
Speaking to Australian media StanSport with tears welling in his eyes, Xhaka stated: “We always remember the place we come from.
“My parents had been working during the day, additional work simply to get us what we needed.
“We had days we had been 18 hours alone at house. My infant (4) and my larger one (six) … I can’t see my children staying 18 hours alone at present. But we had it with my brother.
“My mother was starting work at 4am in the morning until 3pm. She did our food for lunch, came home at 3pm and did another food for dinner, she went to work. My dad was the same.”
Xhaka has been appointed captain at Arsenal, the Switzerland nationwide crew, Bayer Leverkusen and now at Sunderland.
The 33-year-old attributes his management qualities to his resilient upbringing.
He stated: “My brother is one yr older than me, he was 5, I used to be 4. But the important thing to the home, I had it.
“The leadership I had when I was four years old … I already had the responsibility of all the keys.”
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Even rival followers have expressed their admiration for his life experiences.
One wrote on X: “Respect from a Newcastle fan, I relate to this and so do so many, you never forget your roots as he says.”
Another stated: “It’s ultimately why he wanted a new challenge, not with just the footballing side of Sunderland, but the working class city and people.”
It is truthful to say Xhaka has succeeded in life, having remodeled 200 appearances for Arsenal and amassing greater than 100 caps for Switzerland.
He has represented his nation at three World Cups and three European Championships since 2014.
Xhaka added: “If you believe in something and work hard, I think you can get it.”
