Shkrodan Mustafi makes crucial decision regarding future at Arsenal

Arsenal center back Shkrodan Mustafi has reportedly decided to stay at the club and fight for his place despite the Gunners wanting to sell the German defender…

Shkrodan Mustafi has certainly not had it easy at Arsenal. The German defender has failed to perform consistently for the Gunners and this has led to the club looking to offload him. Arsenal have secured William Saliba to bolster their defense but he has been loaned back to Saint-Etienne and with the future of club captain Laurent Koscielny also seeming to be uncertain, Arsenal would be in need of another defender.

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Koscielny, who will be out of contract at the end of the 2019-20 season, refused to travel with Arsenal to the USA for their pre-season tour as he was reportedly trying to force an exit from the club with Ligue 1 sides Rennes, Bordeaux and Lyon interested in signing the French defender, per BBC Sport. On the other hand, Shkrodan Mustafi had yet another underwhelming season where the North London club conceded 51 goals in the English Premier League and the defender was benched for Arsenal’s Europa League final showdown against rivals Chelsea. Ever since his £35 million move from Valencia in 2016, Mustafi has never been able to produce consistent performances and is one of the most disliked Gunners players among the fans.

In Arsenal’s 2-1 loss against Lyon on Monday, Mustafi was booed by the fans and it seems that manager Unai Emery has lost all faith in the German center back. Mirror reports that Arsenal want to either sell the player or send him out on loan despite the German defender being under contract at the Emirates till June 2021. and that French side Monaco have made an inquiry for the 27-year-old. However, a report from BBC Sport suggests that despite Arsenal being in contact with various clubs to offload Mustafi, the defender intends to stay at the club and prove himself.

Assuming Koscielny and Mustafi remain at the Emirates, Emery will still need to look at reinforcements in defense as the former is not the same since returning from an Achilles injury and the latter’s inconsistency raises serious doubts. The Gunners have reportedly reignited their interest in Celtic’s Kieran Tierney in attempts to strengthen their back line, however the clubs limited transfer budget may pose as a problem after they have reportedly spent £72 million on Lille’s Nicolas Pepe, who is yet to be officially announced but a video of the forward in the Arsenal kit was leaked online ahead of an official announcement, as reported by The Sun.

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Will Mustafi be successful in convincing Arsenal to let him stay and prove his worth ?

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