Shkodran Mustafi has had an extremely mixed season including many high-profile mistakes, leading to many fans calling for the Arsenal player to be sold this summer.
Recently, the Center-back was a high-profile snub for the German international squad. With fellow teammate Mesut Ozil taking his place in the squad with ease. The Center back joined Arsenal in 2016 for a reported £35m, breaking Arsenal’s defensive transfer record.
Since joining the side, his place in the first team squad has been heavily contested. Becoming known for hard-hitting challenges but also making many mistakes, he has never seemed particularly at ease at Arsenal and many fans realised early on that Mustafi was not going to be the man to solve Arsenal’s defensive problems.
The 26-year-old has made 38 appearances for the Gunners this season, scoring 3 and grabbing one assist. As well as these, the player has picked up 7 yellow cards.
At times, the Center back has shown real promise and ability. Standing at 6 feet tall, Mustafi is a real aerial threat and has proven this scoring the majority of his career goals with his head.
His ability to move the ball out quickly from the defence to the midfield has been one of his strongest attributes.
Known for diving into challenges fairly heavily, the German defender has proven himself more than capable of dealing with the physicality of the Premier League, but at times his discipline has sapped, leading to mistakes or fouls in Arsenal’s third of the pitch.
Defensive errors have been a defining factor in Arsenal’s season, and many times, Mustafi has had the fingers pointed in his direction a lot over his time at Arsenal but is he truly to blame?
Arsenal’s defensive issues have occurred for years now, yet it is much easier to blame a single player than to assess a whole team. As a team fans have often seen a lack of connection between the defence and midfield, with players like Granit Xhaka looking to bridge the gap.
It is easy to blame one player. Selling Shkodran Mustafi this summer will not change Arsenal’s woeful defence, building a team with a powerful defensive midfield might.
