COMMENT: Is he really going to do it? After all he's been through. After everything he's given this club, this squad. Just as it's all about to turn for the better. Is Granit Xhaka actually going to walk out on Arsenal this summer...?

First the good news. At least for Gooners. The story around Xhaka and Bayer Leverkusen is more a flyer than anything concrete. Coming from Germany's press, there may be some truth to Xhaka's wife Leonita being homesick - the pair having met while the Swiss was with Borussia Monchengladbach - but there's been no active move to return home in the short term. At least that's from the player's side.

But Bayer are interested. With a contract about to enter it's final 12 months and a family now looking to return to Germany, they can sense an opening. Certainly Simon Rolfes, the club's sporting director does. Rolfes only yesterday refusing to shut down the speculation, "We're looking, but I won't comment on that", while at the same time in Switzerland it was confirmed Bayer failed with an offer of £25m for Xhaka last summer.

So there's interest, however tentative, and it exists on both sides. But why now? Why would Xhaka give everything away just as he's about to reach the top of the mountain?

Okay, okay, Arsenal aren't champions. And there's no guarantee they'll run Manchester City just as close next season. But the team and club that Xhaka first signed for seven years ago is very different to what we see today. Competitive. Stylish. Youthful. And with a strong supporters' connection. This version of Arsenal boasts everything that is good in football. And this improvement. This vast improvement. It owes much to Xhaka and how he was prepared to run a hellfire gauntlet not only as an individual, but as a leader carrying this team - indeed this club.

Beyond the manager, Mikel Arteta, and Edu, the technical director, the one man Arsenal owes for guiding this squad from rock bottom crisis to within touching distance of Premier League glory is Xhaka. As a footballer, we know, he's not everyone's cup of tea. Indeed, there'll be a section of the Arsenal support happy learning that the move to Bayer could actually happen. But they'd be wrong. And the management will be too if they don't put their foot down before the market swings open next month.

On the club's side, cutting Xhaka loose for a knockdown £15m would be crazy. A move which would make little sense. There's no central midfield young gun in the U21s whose path is being blocked by Xhaka's presence. Indeed, we now are learning Arteta and Edu have agreed they need to put aside part of their summer transfer budget for squad signings. With a Champions League campaign to navigate - a first in seven years - management are alarmed by how short of quality depth they have. As such, beyond targeting top liners, there'll also be a necessary focus on senior players capable of stepping in when needed. Now isn't the time to lose a first-choice senior midfielder.

And he is first-choice is Xhaka. Even if Declan Rice is signed, the West Ham captain will arrive to play alongside the Swiss, not to replace him. The fitness issues of Thomas Partey and Mohamed Elneny only reinforcing the need for Xhaka to stay.

But what of the player? Why not see this personal project to the end? Clashing with your own fans. Sacked as captain. Seeing Arsene Wenger's acrimonious departure up close. The bombing out of teammates like Aaron Ramsey, Mesut Ozil and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyeng. And the ever deteriorating relationship between the team and the support. As we say, Xhaka has survived a hellfire gauntlet. Indeed, he more than survived. He stared it down. Even without the armband, Xhaka remained steadfast in his leadership duties.

"I've had worse times here than any other player, that's for sure," Xhaka stated after last week's victory over Chelsea. "I now try to help the youngsters to give them motivation."

He never hid - not on the pitch nor off it. And as the locker room became younger. As his senior teammates were ushered away. Xhaka never wavered in his responsibilities. Indeed, he grew. He went way, way above and beyond what is expected from a senior player - and continues to do so today. This commitment. This passion for Arsenal and those around him. Xhaka did it all the while knowing there was a section of the support - and of ex-players - who were demanding he never wear the shirt again.

Yet after going through all that, he wants to now give it away? With a Champions League campaign and another realistic shot at the Premier League to come? It makes no sense. Indeed, this column would argue it would be a final career regret if Xhaka was to walk now.

Arsenal cannot afford to lose Xhaka. Just as he would be crazy to leave after all he went through. Surely Leonita and family can give it one more year in London...