Italian champions Juventus are keen on a move to sign Shkodran Mustafi from Arsenal this summer supposedly.
The Old Lady sold Leonardo Bonucci this summer to AC Milan, with the Italian having fallen out with manager Massimiliano Allegri during the previous campaign, and are yet to replace the international star.
They are believed to be eyeing a deal which would bring Mustafi to Turin, but would the Gunners sell, and also would he want to go?
The German international moved to the Emirates from Valencia last summer in a reported £35 Million move, and the latest claims are that Arsenal are looking to recoup the fee they incurred.
Juve are said to have lodged an initial loan offer, only for our club to insist on a permanent deal or nothing, with a view to getting their outlay back.
The defender himself may prefer to stay put however, despite the wishes of the club (should the rumours be true), having previously talked of having unfinished business in England.
“To be honest at the beginning I thought I was done with England,” Mustafi said.
“It was really frustrating and probably the worst time I had as a footballer. I didn’t want to go there again.
“But then when it came down to making a decision to stay or leave, I thought I would only leave Valencia if I had the opportunity to go to England.
“I was thankful that I had another opportunity to make a step forward by coming to Arsenal.
“For the rest of my life, I don’t want to be patient anymore.”
It’s unknown whether he would see Juventus as a step-up to his current role, or whether their consistency in winning the Italian Serie A would play a factor in his mind.
Should Mustafi be kept at all costs? Would he see Juve as a step up? Would he be more likely to play a first-team role for them or Arsenal?
Pat J
This is very unlikely, unless it is a very big offer. Sometimes his performance looks bad, because of Arsenal’s bad performance.
But he is a good defender and this is just his second season. If he does leave, Arsenal might buy a high profile defender like VVD.
On top of Juventus, it seems Inter has also shown interest in Mustafi. This is confusing and worryying. If Arsenal was firm on keeping him, would these Italian clubs try to buy him? I am afraid we are considering selling him and I cannot understand why we would.
Our defensive frailties have been obvious in our first 2 games, with Monreal positioned in an unfamiliar CB position. I didn’t like Gabriel so much, but he was a CB and we have already sold him. Kos will just be back and we can’t seriously count on Mertesacker as a season-long solution. Holding seemed extremely nervous in the first game, probably because he was not playing in a familiar and experienced back 3.
Mustafi is for sure not Sergio Ramos, but he is a good and experienced CB. It was so tough last year to get him that I seriously doubt we would find a suitable replacement a week before the transfer deadline.
So, it would be criminal to let Mustafi go, at any price.
all wrong its just rumours..
if he leaves who come in ?
vandjik ? probably, if southampton want to sell, for how much ? 60 million dollars ?
brozovic or manolas, new to england, how they will shape out, not even wenger knows..
and if arsenal really sell him, they need to break transfer record once again season & that’s very unarsenalish.
The sites I visit regularly are all saying it is Inter, not Juve, who are potentially in for Mustafi. Is this a different new Serie A rumor or just some confusion? Two sites were claiming Inter is hoping for season loan leading to eventual 20M purchase. Either way, seems like complete and total madness to me unless there is something special brewing behind the scenes we don’t know about! We’re really going to buy him for 35M and sell him the next season for a 15M loss. He’s one of our very best defenders! Okay so he had some trouble spots in the second half of the season, it’s his first with us and back in England after his time in Germany. I think he has real potential to be a badass enforcer and that this could be a horrible move.
p.s.-My apologies to the original poster. A quick “Mustafi Juventus” search (that I should have done before my earlier reply) does indeed include rumors, so I now realize it it both apparently Inter and Juve rumored.
Juve don’t mess around and know their business thoroughly! If they are serious about Mustafi it speaks once again to his true quality and potential and yet again makes me wonder why on earth we would be considering letting him go. I would hope it would be because we have eyed up or maybe even discretely agreed with a truly killer center back to take that spot, but that may well be far too optimistic give our transfer record in recent years.
Regarding “something special behind the scenes” it is pure speculation and blind hope on my part. But I wonder if something is close or maybe has already been agreed for either or both of Ox to Chelsea & Alexis to Man City with enough total money to pull off bringing in two (or at least one!) top-notch players before the window closes? Certainly we are finally shipping out or loaning many fringe players in bulk recently. And if we really are considering letting Mustafi go (which STILL seems crazy to me) that might point to a center back the club thinks is much better, perhaps Van Dijk who we’ve been rumored about for years? I’m going to try and chill out for a week and see how this all plays out (not sure I’ll succeed, but I’ll try). It’s going to be either wild and interesting or minimal happens and thus very frustrating.
Mustafi is a good defender
Only if we get someone of better quality like Van Dijk, Koulibaly, Verane etc. But very unlikely
Hope we don’t get Brozovic BTW. There are better CMs out there
ha ha ha ha . . . Arsenal buy another CB this window?
Buy another (decent) player this widow? Come on. . . .
Why should we sell him for just 20m ❓ it’s hard to get his quality for 30m not to talk of 20m or 15m,this is rubbish. I don’t see Wenger bringing in a quality an high profile CB, I don’t see that happening even if he sold him but I don’t see that happening because the deadline is just in few days time and no clubs will allow his players to go in this crucial time.
Just like arsenal in crisis and that’s why all the players want out.
Koscielny (injury prone)
Mertesacker (old)
Holding (inexperienced)
Chambers (yet to convince)
Is this enough for the season?
no if we want to win something
yes if we want to have a though competition for the 4th place
i love the transfer window on fifa, my team got van dijk, replaced the sulk sanchez with draxler, got g rude up top and laca on the right interchanging with them. goreska is behind them with the coq behind challenged by seri 4 a position. got the ox on 120k which is peanunts 4 arsenal *cough* , bellerin on the damn bench. the hulk is a beast on the left. go well mustafi! but this is real life and in real life when u an arsenal fan, its a b***h, and then you die, thats why we get high, coz u never know when u gonna go, or when stan and his management will. im late for work!
keep dreaming. wake up its same old arsenal.
I don’t believe he’s going to be sold or loaned it anything. In fact, I believe that all of this Serie A stuff is just rumor or speculation. Perhaps someone floated the idea on behalf of one of the teams to see if there was a reaction from Arsenal. I also believe that any rumors speak to Mustafi’s quality. He’s not perfect but he definitely has the skill and talent to be a special CB. Thst much is sure
Also, I don’t think Arsenal will get VVD or any of the truly exceptional defenders that aren’t out there. So to me this is just spinning wheels.
Lastly, A previous poster mentioned sales of Ox and Alexis. I don’t think these rumors are true either. That said, I would be perfectly fine with selling Ox. Yes he has great talent and potential. But he’s selfish with the ball in the final third and he just doesn’t make the good passes after his excellent runs. So sell him BUT keep Alexis at all costs. Even if it’s turning down 70 mil. Because with Alexis ARSENAL have a good chance to get back to the CL. Without him, not. CL money, extra ticket sales, merchandise etc would certainly equal the 70 mil we reject from any team. Keeping him and letting him go for free Arseal will make over 70 mil if they get back to CL next year.
Wenger seems to either intentionally make us just good enough for top 4 or has no idea how to build a winning team
Our defense is not good enough
We need another Top CB of Koscielny quality
We need a replacement for Cazorla and defensive midfielder or box2box who’s good defensively ie Carvalho, Goretzka, Gueye, Matuidi, Seri (too late), Goretzka, Skhiri, Gonalons, Fabinho.
Attack Theo, Danny, Iwobi are okay but not Top players. We need either Draxler or Lemar to join Ozil, Alexis and Lacazette
Our CM is not as good as Pogba/Matic/Mata
Our defense has been very poor in first two matches. Also when Koscielny is injured we are screwed
Our offense is very good but needs one more top quality player
Wenger refuses to do the right thing. So sad and frustrating
the answer is both as a top 4 is not a winning team … man utds midfield was played of the park by Madrid … its what arsenal used to be about under Wenger which makes his demise all the more tragic but the idea that we can compete from any combo of Ramsey elneney coq xhaka is utterly delusional
Yes, Pogba-Matic-Herrera were dominated by Modric-Isco-Casemiro in the UEFA Super Cup match. A team cannot always rely on their players’ physicalities when competing in top European level.
I think Mustafi has the abilities to be a great defender, because he does not depend too much on his physical attributes.
IF, and that is a big IF, Mustafi goes you have to seriously question Arsenals scouting and decision processes. It would mean an extremely high percentage of recent players were mistakes. (Gabriel, Perez, Mustafi). One mistake can happen, 2 is pretty bad but 3 is a disaster for a club as light on finances as we are.
Mustafi is not the answer to arsenals centre back problems. He is bang average in all respects and lacks the pace and physical presence required in the premier league. Wenger missed the opportunities to buy maguire(hull) and Keane (burnley) who could well go on to become England regulars . Holding and Beliiek are very promising youngsters who will make the grade but if we are to challenge the Manchester clubs etc we need at least one top quality centre back now
being clever is a bonus but thinking your ‘too clever’ in football can be your downfall. when your bright or immensely clever you do need humility first and you need to take advice so as ego does not see to your demise.
iv seen steve bould and jens lehman but im at pains to understand where they are ‘allowed to feature’ as advisors to wenger, a bright and intelligable type who appears to be so arrogant as not to listen to a soul.
if only somebody would ask arsene if he feels we’re all in this thing together or is arsenal’s contributory success something he sees fit for him to work at alone?
Just maybe an offer has been made and that is why wenger resorted to playing monreal and kolasnic as centre backs to see if they could cope ? There was no other reason for that madness other than they had an offer for mustafi they couldnt refuse especially with mertesacker on the bench and holding and chambers available.
Juventus can pay £20 millions in cash plus Daniel Rugani, Mustafi is all yours. Act quickly Juventus