Arsenal finally set to sign Mustafi?

Arsenal being ‘close’ to signing Shkodran Mustafi, is a story that has dragged on for a number of weeks now. Arsenal were apparently going to sign the defender last week, before the medical was supposedly moved to a later date. It meant that Arsenal not only missed out on having a well recognised central defender against Liverpool, but that the Gunners were also largely unprepared in defence against Leicester as well. Now according to the latest reports, The Gunners will finally complete their fourth summer signing this coming Wednesday.

Arsenal have so far signed Granit Xhaka, Rob Holding and Takuma Asano, the latter two of which are not expected to participate in much first team activity this season. It’s time for Wenger to pull his finger out and sign a more experienced player now, especially with the close of the summer window right around the corner.

According to several sources, Arsenal have agreed personal terms over the move of Mustafi from Valencia, but the two clubs have not been able to agree on a transfer fee. That is the stage at which most sources would agree. Football journalist Emanuele Giulianelli however is confident that Mustafi will be a Gunner by Wednesday, with a fee now officially accepted.

Giulianelli said: “Valencia are delaying hoping for other clubs to compete. If not, Mustafi deal should be completed by Wednesday! Apparently Arsenal’s bid for Mustafi was €25m + 3m (£21.7m + £2.6m) bonus.”

Whilst it may be a start of something, Giulianelli’s statement cannot be taken as a certain truth. The journalist himself has even left room to back track should a deal not come off, by stating that Valencia are still ‘delaying’ over possible other clubs becoming interested in the player. If Valencia were ready to sell to Arsenal and they have not yet heard from any other clubs, then why are they withholding the transfer, knowing that they’ll apparently be willing to sell to Arsenal anyway.

Also if this is true that Valencia are holding out to see if other clubs will come in with a bid for the player, as a manager who wants and needs this type of signing, would you not be putting your foot down to ensure that Valencia gets on with the move? This is exactly the type of mucking around that Arsenal fans are used to when making transfers, because whilst one club is able to make deal’s happen in under a week, Arsenal’s transfer sagas last for months on end before the Gunners eventually miss out altogether.

If Arsenal have agreed a fee with Valencia and personal terms have already been set in stone for a while, then get the German international defender over to England for his medical now so we can wrap this deal up and move onto the next player.

By AH

34 Comments

  1. OT:

    Since Arsenal last won the Premiere League,
    Man City has won 2 titles
    Chelsea has won 4 titles
    Man Utd has won 5 titles
    Arsenal Ladies have won 6 titles
    Every English League club has changed manager…Except Arsenal…that is.
    Pep Guardiola retired, became a manager, and won 3 league titles. Took a year out, and won 2 more.
    Mourinho has won 6 league titles
    Zlatan has won 9.
    On the fun side: Facebook was invited, YouTube was invited, Twitter was invited, the IPhone was invited.
    Finally, Claudio Ranieri has been sacked 5 times, lost to the Faroe Islands, joined Leicester, and are now the reigning BPL champions.
    Every thing is changing, except Arsenal…that is.

    1. On the fun side: Krish invites Arsenal007 to an english class.. the topic of today is: “the difference between invite and invent”

  2. Yeah Right!
    Mustafi is set to start for Valencia tonight!
    So i doubt that there is any truth that we will sign him by Wednesday lol

    Next!

    1. I guess that Valencia are a better poker player than Wenger is….. He has until kick off, to rise his stake!

    2. Buyers lose 2/3rds of their experienced CBs. Buyers drop 5 out of 6 points. Sellers look at the desperate situation and push up the price of their commodity.

      Wenger has an Economics degree – clearly has forgotten the laws of Supply & Demand.

      Mustafi is in the Valencia squad for tonight, a who-blinks-first bluff or 2 fingers up at Arsenal?

      Wenger’s plan to save a few £m has screwed Arsenal again.

      £200m+ in the bank, what a shambles.

      1. Let us just see how this all ends. My prediction is that it ends with Arsenal only bringing in a lesser quality CB signing and no goal-scorer player signing.

        But I am OK with that. It’s not as if Kroenke, Ivan and Wenger are seriously strategizing to win the EPL title this term. No point pretending as if Arsenal is on same level of ambition with the likes of City, United, Barca, Juve, Chelsea and the likes.
        I hear they are building a very big brand and it’s getting bigger by the day, regardless what has (or has not) been happening the past decade.

        1. Honestly 50M for Mustafi (if at all that is the truth) is SICK.
          Let’s go for a backup CB like Schar or anyone else for the time being.
          Off topic- Why we never bid for the schalke player Howedes – who can play several positions is beyond me.

    3. I have a feeling this deal isn’t going through Shades of Higuan two seasons ago come to mind… But really and truly if we sign Johnny Evans when Martin Caceres is a free agent I’m going to friggin loose it.. he’s 1 year older and free not 16 million… Free

      1. Pros of Johnny Evans
        1- Battle hardened in PL
        2- Can play left back
        3- Gives us the flexibility to play 3 cbs at the back
        4- has pace, good positional sense and does his organizational duties

        So I don’t see why we have an issue forking out 16M

        Cons: he is a stop gap arrangement ; max for 2 years

        1. I think it makes much more sense than spending 40M Euros on Mustafi. Is he that good or are we getting really desperate?
          For me all that matters is getting in a good defender; a guy who is an improvement over Mert, Gabriel and Chambers and Evans is just that.

          Send Chambers out on loan. Promote Bielek to first team. I think we may look light but unless injuries hit us hard- we will have lot of options from Dec onward.

          Also if there are no strikers in the market- why are we not in for the next best option?

          Hearing about the Gabigol guy (touted as next Neymar). Is he that good?

  3. If we get Mustafi on Wednesday
    would he be ready to play
    on Saturday against Watford?
    Highly unlikely so the thing could
    drag on till Tuesday Sept 1.
    May be this is a diversion as we are
    really going to announce a striker?
    Sanogo maybe 🙂

    1. Haha was it Frank De Boer or his brother who called him terrible I can’t remember, why is he still on the payroll.. why do we have a sentimental attachment to deadwood at this club

      1. “Haha was it Frank De Boer or his brother who called him terrible ”

        Really?

        Sanogo is potential and nothing more for now.

        1. Yeah we kep saying that about Bendtnar until he was 27… We are still doing it with Walcott… At times its just best to admit someone is no good than preserving… Sanogo is 23, I could understand if he was inconsistent (which he is he’s young) however his finishing is awful I can’t accept that especially when he has played Cf all his life, it’s not like he is transitioning.

  4. There are a lot pf quality defenders out there who are both known and unknown.It’s up to Wenger to the job and find the right one.Mustafi’s not the only one you know.Wenger is being slow and lethargic in his ways as he’s always been.Just get us someone known or unknown who is world class or on the verge of being world class.Is this too much to ask?Surely I say tp ypu Mustafi is not the only quality defender oit there and I’m sure there are other defenders who are better and cheaper out there.But hey it’s just me.

  5. chamaeleon Negotiations

    chamaeleon Approach

    chamaeleon Manager

    chamaeleon Board

    but they are not being Chamaeleon with money into their damn pockets…

    the Chamaeleon story of Arsenal FC continues……………

  6. ‘Mustafi will not be sold in this window’ and that’s official from Valencia themselves so that’s the end of that. Rob Holding will now be the solution and Chambers will be a potential world beater so need to spend any more precious money. Happy days, bonuses anyone?

  7. Is this the season in which Arsene Wenger is finally left behind for good?
    The club (and the manager) is acting in such a manner that you feel that it has resigned itself to that fate.

    If Arsenal couldn’t wrap up Mustafi and a striker with more than a month to go, in the same window Crystal Palace closed an over 30 mill deal for Benteke (however bad a player he is), we must have really bad negotiators working for the club. The problem isnit money, ‘cos Crystal Palace certainly aren’t rich with cash any more than Arsenal is.

  8. Really ???? SKY SPORTS have just stated, Valencia say he’s not available this transfer unless someone meets his £42.1 million release clause
    can you blame them, we are desperate due to penny pinching and no foresight, so forget him

    1. Sorry! 42 Mn for Mustafi???? No thank you! There are other players around and I don’t get the Johhny Evans hate. Yes he is not world class but if he comes he will only be second to Koscielny in terms of quality! I say get a defender (another body); Mustafi or no Mustafi does not matter; he is not world class anyway!

  9. If we sign him that will be a relief
    I don’t mean to sound ungrateful but we also need a goalscorer
    We desperately need a striker who is an improvement over Giroud

  10. oh and anyone wanting Evans, he can’t even get i the West Brom side at CB, He’s been playing left back

    quality my @£@

    1. He is playing LB because they are short there. You definitely missed last season and the euros right? Evans can do a job at Arsenal for the next 2 years and he is better than all our defenders except for Koscielny

  11. With Wenger thinking Holding put up a great performance against Leicester you can rest assured Wenger will definitely think spending to acquire Mustafi would be a waste. That’s the Wenger we know.

  12. hmm so this man decides to use all the transfer window to get a cheap defender and ends up still paying over, I will never understand how wenger thinks, God help us I pray this should be his last season, its not even about transfers any more formation and tactics wise, wenger is dead

  13. West Brom just signed a defender on a years loan….which means we aren’t getting Mustafi and my guess is it’s gonna be Johhny Evans…..has AW written all over it!

  14. Scarlet O`Hara always put things off until tomorrow,( my wife is the same,) I`ve named her Scarlet.
    For those unfamiliar with the name it came from the film Gone with the Wind. However, Wenger like Scarlet (and my wife) is a procrastinator it`s in his nature and there is nothing he, or anyone else can do about it. “He who hesitates is lost” should be his motto. The rest of us suffer.

Comments are closed

Top Blog Sponsors