Granit Xhaka (born 27 September 1992) is a Swiss professional footballer of Albanian descent who plays as a midfielder for German club Borussia Mönchengladbach. A full international for Switzerland since 2011, he has gained over 25 caps and was included in their squad for the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
Swiss national manager Ottmar Hitzfeld once dubbed him the "young Schweinsteiger",[2] however, because of his intelligence and his love for science, he is now known more commonly amongst his teammates as "young Einstein".
Granit was born in Basel, Switzerland to Albanian parents and is the younger brother of Taulant Xhaka, who is also a professional footballer. Their family moved from Kosovo to Switzerland shortly before their children were born.
