According to Football.London, Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has hinted that it wouldn’t ‘ideal’ for the Gunners to part with defender Shkodran Mustafi during the January transfer window.
Doubts were cast over the Germany international’s future when the Mirror reported that the centre-back had recently switched agents.
Mustafi’s last start for the Gunners across all competitions came at the start of December, the ace has only made three outings in the Premier League this season, two of these were off the bench during the hectic Christmas period.
Whilst the 27-year-old seems to be a fringe player, the Gunners would be taking a massive risk if they were part to with Mustafi giving their current defensive injury crisis.
Read More: Arteta discusses Aubameyang and who could replace him.
“Can we afford? (to lose another defender) The ideal scenario is no. If it happens, we will have to invent something.”
“We are playing with full-backs that are not full-backs. They are wingers or central midfielders and could we afford to lose full-backs? No, but we don’t have any full-backs.”
Were Mustafi to leave this month, the Gunners would only have David Luiz, Sokratis and Rob Holding to call on at centre-back.
The north London outfit currently have defenders Kieran Tierney, Calum Chambers, Hector Bellerin and Sead Kolasinac sitting on the sidelines.
As a result of injuries in the full-backs department, it wouldn’t be surprising to see the likes of Mustafi having to deputise on the flanks in the future.