Serie A club Inter Milan have reportedly approached Arsenal defender Shkodran Mustafi over a potential move during this summer’s transfer window.
The 24-year-old has yet to take the playing field for the Gunners this season with Arsene Wenger having not risked his services for the Community Shield and Premier League opener.
Mustafi has returned to full fitness following his late pre-season, and he is due to take the playing field when the Gunners visit Stoke City at the Bet365 Stadium over the weekend.
According to Gianluca Di Marzio, the Nerazzurri have made contact with the player in order to gauge his situation at the Emirates.
Mustafi currently faces strong competition from the likes of Rob Holding and Per Mertesacker for the centre-back role, and a couple of average performances could see him potentially on the bench with Laurent Koscielny also due to return from his suspension next week.
Despite this, the Gunners are unlikely to entertain the prospect of losing their German defender at such an early stage of his club career and will rebuff advances from the Nerazzurri.
Gabriel is on the cusp of returning to La Liga with Valencia this summer, and his potential departure leaves more space for Mustafi to compete for a regular spot in the three-man backline.
The £35 million signing was initially a huge success at Arsenal last term with no defeats in his opening 22 outings, but things disintegrated thereafter with his performances being criticised on a regular basis.
Mustafi, who is contracted until the summer of 2021, scored two goals in 37 appearances for Arsenal across all competitions last season.
