Arsenal’s pursuit of Shkodran Mustafi has received a huge boost as the German defender is interested in joining Arsenal and working with Arsene Wenger, as per reports from Mirror.
Mustafi, 24, is a youth product of Hamburger SV and was an Everton player as a youngster, where he hardly got a chance to prove his talent. He then left for Sampdoria, and after two successful seasons in Italy, he joined Spanish club Valencia for around £8 million.
The Gunners are in search of a world class center back after it was confirmed that Per Mertesacker would be out for 5 months due to an injury. Additionally, Gabriel Paulista, who is suffering from Tonsilitis, is also expected to be absent for a brief period.
Sky Sports Germany recently claimed that the Gunners have entered into talks with Valencia for Mustafi but are yet to make a formal bid. His agent Ali Bulut is expected to fly to Spain over the weekend to discuss the transfer fee with Valencia.
This combined with the lengthy leave provided to Laurent Koscielny after reaching the final of Euro 2016 with France, leaves Arsenal with only one senior center back in the form of Calum Chambers.
Which is why post the signing of Rob Holding, the North London club are still looking for one more center back.
The German defender Mustafi has a release clause of £42.1 million, but it is reported that Valencia are ready to sell him for 25 million pounds, which is still way higher a price than how much they bought him for.
He was a part of the World Cup-winning Germany squad in Brazil but could not take any further part from Euro 2016, though, as he injured his thigh in the round-of-16 clash against Algeria.
Mustafi was also a part of the final 23-man squad of Germany for the latest edition of Euro. He scored Germany’s first goal of the tournament in their opening match against Ukraine, heading in a delivery from Real Madrid midfielder Toni Kroos.
However, post the return of Mats Hummels, he was under-preferred to Bayern Munich’s recent acquisition.
It is also understood that Mustafi is looking forward to the prospect of working under Arsene Wenger, thereby facilitating the transfer to materialize.
Consequently, Arsenal need not activate the release clause after all, as he could available for a cheap rate of £25 million.
