This archive report was first published on 17 July 2019.
Published on July 17, 2019, Arsenal manager Unai Emery is facing a crisis in the team's dressing room leadership following Laurent Koscielny's decision to go on strike.
Laurent Koscielny, who was largely viewed as Arsenal's most senior squad player, refused to link up with the team for a pre-season tour to the USA, forcing Emery to rethink the Gunners' leadership.
With Petr Cech and Aaron Ramsey both leaving the Emirates, there could be an acute shortage of players capable of taking over the mantle from Koscielny.
However, speaking on Arsenal's captaincy situation, Emery revealed that there were a number of players in contention for the role, including Xhaka and Mesut Ozil.
"We have players with the capacity [to be captain], one is Granit, he was a captain in the dressing room," Emery said.
"We have others like Mesut, Nacho. There are other players who can take this position also. I want between three and five captains in the team," he added.
Granit Xhaka has emerged as the obvious contender given he is assured of a starting place in Emery's line-up compared to Ozil.
The 26-year-old has himself signalled willingness to take on the role should the club turn to him.
