Arsenal have reportedly run out of patience with Shkodran Mustafi, who is set to be offloaded once the summer transfer window opens.
Shkodran Mustafi has come in for heavy criticism over his performances in an Arsenal shirt ever since he joined. Sunday’s disastrous outing against Crystal Palace seems to have put the final nail in his coffin, as Daily Mail reports that the club are ready to offload him and consider him a priority departure when the summer window opens.
Mustafi’s performance against Crystal Palace saw the defender being blamed for all three goals conceded. His part in the first two strikes by Christian Benteke and Wilfried Zaha have come under the spotlight and in the aftermath of the game, pressure seems to be piling up. Arsenal are now ready to cut their losses and listen to offers for the defender.
In recent months, Unai Emery has preferred a three-man defensive unit with Mustafi being his fourth choice. The trio of Nacho Monreal, Laurent Koscielny, and summer signing Sokratis have been preferred, although owing to various injuries and suspensions, Mustafi has played quite regularly.
The Gunners are in for a busy summer transfer window, which could see many of the club’s regular players leave as Emery plans to rebuild the squad. The report adds that the Gunners might offload some of the club’s highest earners with Mesut Ozil on the chopping block, while Henrikh Mkhitaryan could be sold as well in the upcoming window.
As far as Mustafi is concerned, his departure could help increase Emery’s meagre transfer budget which currently stands at £45 million. The club have assured Emery that a significant sum of any player sale would be added back to his kitty for reinvestment.
Arsenal are looking for many new faces in the summer, as Emery looks to overhaul his squad despite personally having a good first season, so as to create a team in his image more seamlessly.
Considering many big names are linked with summer departures, we are not sure if it could be the right move, but it definitely would be a step forward with the axing of players such as Mustafi. If Arsenal have a replacement planned for Mustafi, it is safe to say it would be a great piece of business for the Gunners to offload the German, who has become a liability for the club.
