Shkodran Mustafi, the Arsenal center back has dropped a hint that he could be moving away from the Gunners by removing the Arsenal part from his Instagram bio, according to reports in Metro.
This comes on the back of reports that said that manager Unai Emery was keen on selling the defender. Mustafi who earns around £90,000 per week has not yet gotten any significant interest from another club.
In the picture which was shared by Metro, the defender apart from removing Arsenal from his bio, has also changed the display picture that had him wearing an Arsenal jersey.
With the Gunners having a smaller budget due to their failure to qualify for the Champions League, the club is looking to sell a few players to raise funds.
The German was signed in the summer of 2016 from Valencia and was initially impressive as he became an important member of the defense. But his Arsenal career since then has not always been rosy.
This culminated last season when he was involved in a string of high-profile errors that ended up costing the Gunners the chance to qualify for the Champions League. But the player has also spoken about his desire to stay with the Gunners and when he was asked by German outlet Kicker, this is what he had to say:
‘It is odd that there are always transfer speculations. I am an Arsenal player and have a contract until 2021.’
If Arsenal are to get back into the Champions League, then the defense will have to function at a very high level. Perhaps manager Unai Emery thinks that Mustafi is not the person to take the club in the direction it should be going.
At times, the club has to be ruthless and make some tough decisions. If that results in certain players leaving the club then that should happen for the benefit of the club.
The good news for Arsenal is that Rob Holding will be returning from a long-term injury very soon and the chances of Mustafi playing might be less. Nevertheless, if the German was to make a move away from the Gunners, it stands to reason that he will be able to command a reasonable fee.
