mustafi

Shkodran Mustafi opens up about Arsenal transfer speculation

Shkodran Mustafi open to a return to the Bundesliga

Arsenal defender Shkodran Mustafi has given an insight into the summer speculation linking him with a move away. He confirmed that there were options but nothing to suit everyone involved.

The German centre half also revealed that a move to the Bundesliga in the future is something he would seriously consider.

Speaking to German media outlet Der Spiegel, Mustafi said

“There was the consideration to leave the club in the summer,” he said. “But there was no option which would have suited all sides.

“Arsenal attached a few requirements to a transfer. And I knew that the next move is incredibly important to finally write a positive chapter once again.

“If I move somewhere where it is just not the right fit, the situation would not change much. I stayed. For the future, I am open also for Bundesliga.”

There was a lot of speculation that the 27-year-old was on his way out in the summer but he held firm and stayed put. Since then, in all fairness, he has played decently when called upon and is no longer criticised for his performances.

This basically means that his value is not dropping, which is good for all sides. It is good for Mustafi because it means more interested clubs. Good for Arsenal because it means they get a higher transfer fee.

36 Comments

  1. Who are you? Martin Kroenke? Come on Dude, give us some articles, “financial Times” reports on Kroenke assets!

  2. Topics as :

    Our next 3 EPL games benefit and danger!

    What should be our defense?

    Or

    What is our best first team 3 options, with available players?
    1)
    2)
    3)

    I can’t sait for that topic! If fans had impact on last Windows spending, why not do same and impose that top 3 teams. Let the fan choose and decide as in Spain! Lots of great things to take from fans!

    1. They pulled-up with Pepe in response; out of nowhere to cool us down but a payement plan… Country cowboys old ass tricks! Palace wanted less for Saha but all upfront!

      They know that if we dont buy tickets and shirts, they are going under in a week Time but Arsenal wont ever die.

      No ticket sales = no public in stadium = no TV rights = no sponsor!

      Doesnt stop team to play, draw, lose and win des games as we do, players get paid as staff and indeed, owners must sell as it is no value!

      Another topic
      Fans should own 51% and have last say in every transfer and vote for a proposed board.

      Wenger would be named on top as he is a manager and loves this club from kids level to seniors!

      Each fan gets a share, anywhere in the world, that builds club’s value, another dimension Indeed!

      1. Yeah-and when you finally wake up in the real world PAL you will realise just what an idiotic post you have just written

    2. Mogunna, looking forward to reading your article contribution, as all three topics wpould involve debate.

      Admin Martin would welcome three articles I am sure, so get typing and stop whinging!!!

      “What should be our next defence” would be a fantastic article, so here’s mine:
      Martinez-Bellerin-Chambers-Holding-Tierney:

      As for mustafi, at least we know the situation from the club and players point of view, such a pity that we don’t have such clarity with other players.

      1. Hey there, sorry for late response,

        Of course this is it, should have been more precise adding that DM protecting CDs Key defensive zone.

        This DM allows more freedom to everyone above him at midfield and attack. Locking that zone and both wings! Chambers nos showing it all, thx Mr Wenger!

        Someone needs to be there; we have no one really or that issue would not be one, making us top worst EPL defense. Simply unreal but no Fake news we all wished…

        Bellerin – Mustafi/Luiz Holding Tierny
        Chambers
        Niles Willock
        Ozil

        Nelson Laca
        Auba

        Of course Ozil is free to feed Auba & Laca or whoever when a Chambers locks it behind him.

        We know Niles will back up Bellerin in defense and go forward as Willock do same.

        Chambers DM is Key. Or it’d be 2 more losts!

  3. Kudos to Mustafi for working hard and be professional despite all criticisms he got. However, he still needs to go because:

    – We will have Saliba next season

    – We need money for the summer transfer window. Unfortunately Sokratis and Luiz have little or maybe no resale value at all, whereas Mustafi is still highly valuable in the market

    – Mustafi’s contract will expire at the of next season and it’s too risky to extend the contract of such error-prone CB like him

    I predict we would use Mustafi’s sale money to fund Ceballos’ purchase, unless Ceballos doesn’t meet the club’s expectation in this season

    1. Yep, Ozil may land to Barça eyeing on him for years…why would Barça or Munich pull triger on him?

      Think he can play CL if winter transfer, right?

  4. Slightly off topic, but it involves the player.
    I read about him being threatened while he was driving out of the stadium, on top of him being booed, and this deeply anguished me. How can our club supporters stoop so low and go after players with threats, abuses and insults? It was unheard of back in the day where the ethos was “once a gunner always a gunner”, strengthened during Wenger’s time. Towards the end he himself faced insults and how hurtful it must have been.
    Our club is based on values and was a commoner:s club with strong ethics, but criticism stopped being constructive/objective a long time ago. I’ve said several times in a couple of other forums that Emery exposed Mustafi a lot last season till be became the object of ridicule. Same is happening with Xhaka now, whether Emery realises or not. Ozil saga is at another level altogether, but I’ll never abuse Emery. I do call him Tinkerman and that’s how far it’d go, and yes I do call him a numpty in exasperation with how he is taking our team backwards.
    It’s good that Mustafi dug in and is coming back, but I’m sure it was a few glitches that needed to be ironed out and voila! he looks a decent defender he is meant to be. Same with Chambers, who I feel lost a year when he was sent off to Fulham, because if he stayed with us, he’d have been much better now.
    Ozil is being made the villain to suit some agenda and it’s really sad. If the club has to recover some money if he is sold, he needs to be on the pitch so his market value improves and the club can earn something. It’s another matter that along with Ozil thousands & thousands of fans will move too, like it happened with Ronaldo.

    1. While we all have our favourites, it does seem that many Gooners are unable to support one player without also tearing strips off another. The latest exhibit is Saka vs Nelson. Rather than being happy that we have two young attacking players who are full of promise, the narrative is often Saka is great and Nelson is rubbish. Last year Nelson was golden boy and Iwobi was rubbish. Sad really.

      1. Trudeau, you said exactly the way it must be said. Everything is binary these days in the alt-truth world, just because the argument needs to be won.

        1. That’s how mordern day football works, everyone has a player he really like, but I will never be in support of some idiots swearing at players, they may be earning millions but they are also human. Some people are just stupid.

          1. Modern day football also requires a team to score more than the opposing team, and if one doesn’t create those goals, where will they come from?

    2. I agree with everything you said but I will never agree with you dragging Emery in, how did Emery exposed mustafi, are you saying Emery is at fault for playing a player who earn around 90k weekly? Is it Emery fault mustafi is average at best? Is it Emery fault that mustafi can’t play one full game without making a mistake, if anything Emery gave him lots of chances to improve by playing him because you can’t gain form if you are on the bench and yet again you find a way to bring ozil into the topic, have said it before and I will say it again, you can’t keep ignoring your record highest paid player if the board is not in support, am not an Emery fan yes he has his faults but to say he’s the cause of the fans hating on mustafi is not true.

      1. Leno my mate, if Emery tried to play Mustafi into form like he is doing with Xhaka this year, why not with Ozil? I go by what I read in the public domain, which said he had a very good preseason. Then came the knife attack resulted safety benching, then came the illness, then the rest and now he doesn’t deserve. What is one to derive from this? My anguish is not because Ozil is my son, but from club’s perspective we do not have our creative player on the pitch.

        1. Emery doesn’t like Ozil – fine, people chemistry can be forced. Then find a replacement for a creative #10. The way he ignores the need of creativity shows that he is not the coach for title contenders. Somebody here had written that he set up the team like a newly promoted team, that was spot on.

    3. Viju, I support you along the lines of players not taking insult. But I’ll ask this. On the basis of the last two seasons and 10 games this season, who would Ozil bench? All the players that play in the same position that he does have delivered in one or two appearances. So talking merit, who would he bench?
      You always argue that the coach is playing favourites and if he wasn’t then ozil would be on the pitch, let me lay down some facts from every body’s first 2 fixtures this season.
      Saka, 2 assists and a goal
      Pepe 1 assist
      Ceballos 2 assists
      Nelson 1 goal
      Martinelli 2goals
      I chose two games because that is as many as he has played, and yet from memory, he’s only created one half chance for Auba. 10 games into the season, whom do you want him to replace?
      Secondly, you refer to Emery as tinkerman. To the best of my knowledge, to tinker is to excessively and without reason change the starting lineup of a team. Unai has had pretty much the same players starting games this season, only changing out of necessity. I could actually go as far as to say he’s run with the same framework of players for nearly his entire arsenal tenure only changing when necessary like every other manager. Tell me what position in the team has been excessively rotated.

      1. Joe, one area of the pitch = midfield. Just to accommodate Xhaka he keeps rotating the others, and I’m not wrong when I say that. I called him Tinkerman based on what he did last time, and I forget how many different lineups, formations and tactics he employed and it came home to roost at the end of the season where were just plummeted. Early season results are no indicators to how the season will end, but early season tactics will tell us. I will out team the best every single game, and when it goes pear shaped, I moan because that’s how much I invest in the game emotionally. Do I want Emery to fail? NO. NEVER. Do I want Emery to use our players to the best it their abilities and not according to his views? YES.
        Talking of Ozil, it’s not black and white with his style/game. He was on the pitch for 70mins each and he was getting into the games when he got hooked. Where was the chance for him to prove anything? We all can cherry pick stats to prove our points, but my question is “is Arsenal benefiting?”. What is the point in benching a creative player and playing Torreira as #10? A great disservice to Torreira if not anyone else.
        Ozil for all his faults, covered the most distance after Monreal, was the third per game, but he gets slated for not trying which baffles me. I discuss the game with a midfielder who played for a national team and we talk a lot about off-the-ball game, with replays of a game to understand and he points out to the areas/spaces Ozil runs into, looking for combination play, and quick one-two’s and more often than not the other player doesn’t respond the way Santi & Alexis did, or even Ronaldo & Khedira did at Real.
        Football is a beautiful game which is now overtaken by hit&run methods, and I’m sorry I’m from the old school. I do enjoy combination play and the quick one-two’s that open up defences which are a joy to watch.

        1. Viju, you’re basically saying Ozil should be played ahead of those who have delivered to do exactly the reasons you would give for Xhaka being benched. Let’s face it, taking away the occasional thunderbolt and the odd mistake leading to a goal against us, all xhaka does is recycle possession and keep making accurate passes .so I’ll ask again,on merit, who would Mesut bench?
          Don’t get me wrong bro, I like and respect Mesut, but in the time he’s been given, he should have demonstrated some sort of ability to deliver.
          Secondly, you say in each game he got 70 mins and got hooked just as he was getting into the game. Seriously, he needs all of 70 mins to get into a game? Even Pepe who’s struggling ticks a whole lot faster than that.
          There’s a lot of sticks you can genuinely use to beat Emery, but I don’t think that Mesut one is good enough.

          1. Ozil is the only #10 we have Now, so he cannot be compared to a DM or a B2B. It can be argued that the game has evolved where the midfielders switch positions but as a pure creative CAM Ozil will excel even if he is having a bad game. All he needs is to provide those few killer passes/assists because at the end of the day goals win matches.
            Agreed he doesn’t go into tackles but he backtracks a lot and once again I use the Forest game as a template. The number of times he was sweeping up from our own half and finding the right guy to take the attack forward is all there on record. I enjoyed that game immensely because of the freedom with which the team played.

    4. Viju, first time I really have to disagree with you.
      If Ozil does go, then it happens.
      For better or worse, that might be the situation.

      ANYONE who then follows Ozil wherever he goes and leaves The Arsenal is no REAL gooner.
      One could write a list of great players who have left our magnificient club for whatever reason, but the club is what we support, not individual players, even if one thinks it’s the worst decision ever, as I most certainly will if it happens.
      If any so called fan decides to follow Ozil over The Arsenal, then good riddance – close the door on the way out.

      1. Ken, us old gooners are passing on…the new lot with money aren’t as dogged as we are and I see that all around where I live.

      2. Ken, nothing will shake my gooner status, even though I’m a fan of Wenger and the style with which his teams played. Ozil is a special talent who makes the game more elegant with his languid talent, the same way as Platini did. I’m old school, what to do!

        1. Keep the faith my man, keep the faith – The Arsenal under Le Prof’s wonderful flowing, attacking football, disappeared two years before he left us and still hasn’t returned.

          Your so right about being a gooner through good and bad, the problem is my old friend, bad to todays fan is so different to our version.

          Your description of Ozil is great and I always think of him as a knife going through butter, others see it so differently.

          Ozil and UE are like Rocastle and Graham, or Nicholas and Graham, talented footballers with defensive minded managers.
          The only player who took on and won against his manager was Wrighty and Rioch as far as I can remember and we know how that ended.

          At the end of the day though, I still say The Arsenal is bigger than any player/coach/manager and if/when Ozil goes or UE leaves, our club is what we should be supporting and I bet you and I will be doing just that.

  5. Use Mustafi in all comps apart from the league get his stock back to a reasonable level. It seems alot of fans won’t forgive him but he’s defiantly better than Sokratis. I would use him as part of a deal to get Upamecano in Jan or the summer.

  6. Seeing how Sokratis and Luiz performs so far, I don’t quite understand why Emery keeps playing them full. Luiz scored the only goal last week, but we know that Mustafi is also capable of scoring, too. I still say that he’s a liability at the back, but so are Sokratis and Luiz. Well, at least he’s still given a chance in lower stages. Unlike Ozil. Emery opted to choose to use Auba as a sub in Europa League, even when he’s not needed at all as we had a very comfortable game. He wants Ozil go but on the other hand he makes the player look so worthless that may make no clubs interested.

  7. Well said Trudeau. On this site perhaps we ought to abide by a set of principles which forbids the personal ridicule of players.This does not prevent fans from criticising players who they feel are not performing but we really do have to ban comments like one I read today from a so called Arsenal fan who hopes Xhaka gets injured during the forthcoming internationals.I am not a fan of Xhaka nor Mustafi and while I hope we find upgrades for them and many others,I will not stoop to the personal abuse of players.It should not be tolerated on this site.

  8. Let Arsenal finish the 1st half of this season successfully first before talks on reinforcements for the 2nd half of the season’s campaign can be tabled for a possible considerations. All things being equal, William Saliba will be at Arsenal next summer. But if before then Arsenal sell Mustafi in next January window, will the club need to sign a replacement to him to fill the void that he’ll leave behind despite that Chambers and Holding who both can play at RB and CB are at the club? In the main time, let the Gunners who’ve gone on international break have a successful international matches campaign for their various countries and return to Arsenal unhurt. And let the Gunners who didn’t go to play in the international matches be given a 3 day training sessions break. After which they should return to Arsenal’s London Colney to resume training for Sheffield Utd in the PL before the Gunners who went for the international matches return to join them for a rigorous full training sessions for the Sheffield Utd match at away to collect all points unfailingly in the match.

  9. The criticism the last three years have been vicious ……these guys need support to excel….,,it’s like they pick on someone till he is gone …….then start on a new player …..booing a player on the field not kosher but acceptable …..,booing a player driving home is abuse ….unacceptable…and disgusting..,,,..How would you feel if after a bad day at work …..customers line up to boo you while you are driving home……

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