User:Huligan0/Granit Xhaka

FC Basel
Xhaka started his youth football with Concordia Basel and, together with his brother Taulant, moved to the youth department of FC Basel at the end of 2002. He played for various Basel youth teams regularly advancing through the ranks. In the 2006–07 season he was member of the U-15 team that won the Swiss championship, creating a record for eternity. They managed to win all championship games in that season to win the Swiss championship at that level. This was achieved with a goal difference of 104:13. Since competitive football began in Switzerland, no team had achieved this before. In the 2007–08 season he was member of the U-16 team that won the Swiss championship at that level, remaining undefeated throughout the entire season. During the 2008–09 season Xhaka advanced to the U-18 team, but was nevertheless called up to Basel's U-21 team, who played in the third tier of Swiss football, by their coach Patrick Rahmen and on 15 November 2008 Xhaka was substituted on in the 83rd minute as Basel won 2–1 against SC Cham. During the second half of the season Xhaka played nine further games for the U-21, scoring one goal and at the end of the season became division champions and won the championship at U-21 level. To the beginning of the 2009–10 season Xhaka advanced to become member of the U-21 squad, however was still eligible to play for the U-18 team, who at the end of the season became Swiss champions at their level.

To the beginning of their 2010–11 season, Xhaka advanced to Basel's first team under head coach Thorsten Fink. On 28 July 2010 Xhaka played his first team debut in the third qualifying round of the 2010–11 UEFA Champions League in the away match against Debrecen. He was substituted on in the 88th minute and four minutes later he scored the team's second goal to secure the victory. He played his domestic league debut for the club. playing the full 90 minutes, in the away game on 21 August as Basel played a 1–1 draw with Thun. He scored his first Super League goal for his new team on 15 May 2011, in the home game in the St. Jakob-Park as Basel won 5–1 against FC Thun. At the end of the 2010–11 league season, Xhaka won the championship title with the team. He had 20 league appearances, scoring once.

At the end of the 2011–12 season Xhaka won the Double with the team. They won the League Championship title with 20 points advantage over second placed Luzern. The final of the 2011–12 Swiss Cup was played in the Stade de Suisse on 16 May 2012. The game ended with a one-all draw after extra time and winning the penalty shoot-out Vasel lifted the trophy. At the end of the season he left the club, during his time with Basel's first team Xhaka played a total of 67 competitive games for them scoring a three goals. 44 of these games were in the Swiss Super League, nine in the Swiss Cup, 14 in the UEFA competitions (Champions League and Europa League). He scored two goals in the domestic league and one in the Champions League.

Honours
Basel
 * Swiss championship U-15: 2006–07
 * Swiss championship U-16: 2007–08
 * Swiss championship at U-21 level: 2008–09
 * Swiss Super League: 2010–11, 2011–12
 * Swiss Cup: 2011–12