by Michael Kalu
Arsenal’s hope of finishing the season with a silverware has been dealt another major blow as Shkodran Mustafi is set to miss the showdown with Chelsea at Wembley.
According to David Ornstein, our last real resort to the deep defensive crisis ahead of the match, Shkodran Mustafi is ruled out of the weekend clash.
The German defender who would have loved to celebrate a trophy in his first season in England is now a serious doubt due to a serious blow to the head during our 2-0 triumph over Sunderland that has left him with a suspected concussion.
Here are the tweets from David Ornstein:
#AFC injuries mount pre-Wembley – understand Mustafi a doubt with suspected concussion. Koscielny suspended, Gabriel doubt #CFC #FACupFinal
— David Ornstein (@David_Ornstein) May 21, 2017
Mustafi blow to head v #SAFC Tue, symptoms emerged later & ongoing. Reportedly ill for #EFC & ok for #FACupFinal but more serious #AFC #CFC
— David Ornstein (@David_Ornstein) May 21, 2017
Though the defender completed the match, he has since developed symptoms of concussion and was consequently left out of the squad that defeated Everton 3-1 at the Emirates on Sunday.
Mustafi will likely watch from the sidelines with fellow centre-backs Laurent Koscielny, who received a straight red card for a stupid tackle on Sunday and Gabriel, who was stretched off just after halftime.
This news will certainly put more pressure on Arsene Wenger whose future at the Emirates has been a subject of intense speculation lately, due to the fact that the Gunners will miss Champions league football for the first time in 20 years as well as the possibility of winning nothing in the almost concluded campaign.
If the reports are true, the long-serving manager may be forced to field club captain, Per Mertesacker, who has seen only 36 minutes of action in the entire season on Sunday alongside Rob Holding, Hector Bellerin, Nacho Monreal and Kieran Gibbs in his recently adopted 3-4-2-1 formation.
The Frenchman will hope to salvage what has been an awful season with a win over the newly crowned Champions of England, Chelsea, on May 27, but to do that, he and his boys will need to give more than their best.
