The BBC’s David Ornstein says Arsenal are keen to offload Shkodran Mustafi this summer, either permanently or on loan, even though the player is eager to prove himself to Unai Emery.
The 27-year-old Germany international, who signed from Valencia in August 2016 for £35 million, is under contract at the Emirates until 2021.
It’s long been reported that the club would be open to the World Cup winner’s departure, however, his six-figure weekly pay packet has proved to be a stumbling block for potential suitors in the past.
AS Roma, AC Milan and Monaco have all been touted as possible destinations in the last couple of weeks.
Arsenal in talks with number of clubs over Shkodran Mustafi exit. 27yo (contract until 2021) wants to stay + prove himself. But #AFC want permanent or loan departure. Also hope to bolster central defence pre-deadline & retain interest in Celtic left-back Kieran Tierney #CelticFC
— David Ornstein (@bbcsport_david) July 30, 2019
Given the club will almost certainly see club captain Laurent Koscielny leave this summer, it’s interesting that we’re pushing hard for Mustafi, whose confidence appears to be in tatters, to leave. Presumably, given Sokratis and Calum Chambers are our only other fit centre-backs at the moment, we must have another target in mind.
Ornstein also says that Celtic’s Kieran Tierney remains a target despite the Gunners holding off from lodging a third bid for the Scotland international. Given the left-back is still recovering from injury, we’re obviously not in that much of a rush to get him to London Colney.
Arsenal are expected to complete the club-record signing of Nicolas Pepe in the next 24 hours.
The guy didn’t deserve the boo’s on the weekend, but it can’t be denied how much of a liability he is
If we get anywhere near the £25m asking price for him, and invest that in a new CB then that is a massive win
If we get a new CB, and Tierney as well then we’ve had one of the best transfer windows in our history, and we WILL finish top 4
I was saying boo-urns
Can we really ask 25m for him? If he’s worth that, then why are we selling?
We’d be grateful if we could get 10mil I reckon
I do agree in some respects, but at the same time you see what other players are going for (Danny Ings £20m!, Tyrone Mings £26.5 with add-ons), and you might as well ask for £25m and see what happens
To be fair I think Tyrone Mings is better
Or Charles Mingus
Didn’t he play the saxophone?
But that’s including the standard £10-15m bump up for them being English. Unfortunatly, we can’t expect that for Mustafi.
Mustafi is homegrown so he should get a boosted transfer fee as a result. 25m£ sounds about right. Especially for the lower half of the PL.
Aim for the stars and you might hit the moon
In a world where Danny Ings who has barely kicked a ball in 2 years and had a horrible injury before that can be sold for 20m, then yes, we can ask for 25m for a WC winner who has been a regular starter for us.
Having said that, I would be more than happy to sell him for even 20m.
its never about what they are worth, its about what people are willing to pay.
He is a World Cup winner and a decent CB when he isn’t shot of confidence. In a different league he’ll be a good signing. I think £20m is about right in the current market.
Savage that’s a religious/virtuous compromised thought pattern.
If I can convince you to spend 50million to acquire my old shoes and without putting a gun to your head, then maybe you’ve got some brilliant idea for my old shoes and who/why am I to advice you otherwise . Business is business brother/sister
The boos were embarrassing. Forget transfer fees and surrealistic salaries. He is a guy out there on the pitch, doing his very best. At this level, unfortunately, it’s not good enough.
Exactly. Boos and slating him 24/7 on social couldn’t have done him any good, and given the fact that he’s been almost granted to play week in week out due to different circumstances, we could really show him some support. The people at the club know he’s not good enough and we all know they’ve tried to get rid for him for quite some time now, the least we can do is show support to our players on the pitch.
*of him
Fuck support! Hopefully the boos will speed up that donkeys departure
Do you really think he’s doing his “very best”? OK….
Why would you think he isn’t? You think he is deliberately playing badly?
That’s just such a bizarre way to think about the world.
That’s how people were saying we had a good transfer window when we bought Mustafi and Xhaka..
But who on earth is going to pay remotely close to £25 million for him? Ask yourself this question: if he was playing for another club, and was putting in the performances he has for us since 2016, would we pay that for him now? No, not in a month of Sundays, would we. Then why would any other club pay that now? They see what we see.
Because his stats are actually remarkably good, and for 80% of a game he can be a good defender. I always think about how many managers tried to find the player inside Balotelli despite the fact he is clearly mental, and I’m sure there will be a coach somewhere that has enough self confidence to turn Mustafi into the decent defender his stats say he might be
I don’t think it’s at all impossible that he can yet be a top-class defender, even in England. Longer than most people, I even thought that it could be for Arsenal. I now believe the interconnected history of bad mistakes, fan hostility, and shattered confidence make that impossible.
i think he would fit in well at everton, considering he was there before.
We have to pay someone £25m to take Mustafi. Nobody will pay for him!!
Trying to buy 4th place.
Pepe – 24
Saliba – 18
Tierney (if we can get him) – 22
This shows forward planning in investing in young talents, rather than just a one season push for top 4
Besides, if we continue the good business why can’t we aim for 3rd, seeing as we only finished two points off that position last year?
What if we get another Mustafi. Would it still be one of the best windows?
After this window I think we should evaluate things- Whilst Kroenke is never going to invest his own money into the club, he has never stopped Arsenal from spending what we make. I don’t think any true Arsenal fan wants the club to become state sponsored like City or PSG. Maybe having smart football men in charge of the club like Raul was what was needed all along?
Liverpool won the CL by being smart- they were worse than us just a few years ago. Their American owner doesn’t put his own money into the club- in fact, not many do other than the Arab owners and Roman (who has stopped now)
The way forward is being smart. Like Liverpool were with their signings and overall management.
Liverpool were smart but they were also willing to absorb losses on players and keep spending.
Like when they bought Joel Matip, decided he wasn’t good enough, and then went for van Dijk. Or the fact that they’re willing to look past the 40 million for Oxlade Chamberlain who’s barely contributed.
Smart is definitely required, but 30 million pound ‘mistakes’ are just a reality of this market. We need to take the hit on Mustafi and still be willing to spend big money on a new CB. I’m glad we’re inching in that direction.
I agree, though it might be time to stop inching and start striding towards those outcomes. 9 days left.
Liverpool were smart in the transfer market, but Klopp’s aggressive “shock and awe”-football is just as big a factor in their success.
This season will be a defining season for Liverpool. Now every other club now know what they are going to get. We will see if they, Like City still pull it off at the lower clubs away on a winter Wednesday. I watched Liverpool more than I wanted to last year due to the American owner and their east coast fan base and there were many, many games (including at home against us) they should not have won. This also includes the CL final. I was mortified by how close the spuds came to leveling that game and if they… Read more »
imagine if you had written that EXACT comment, say.. 5 weeks ago? haha
Would have been thrown into the gallows by the Arseblog faithful
surely ‘thrown up to the gallows’……….. (a pedant)
My problem with him has never really been his lack investment, it was more his detachment and the drift that seemed to have set in within the club. If these early signs of improvement continue and we become a well-run club that maximises its resources rather than squandering them like we have recently, then I don’t think we can have many complaints. We’ll have to wait and see.
One thing that does seem to have become painfully clear already is how catastrophically bad Ivan Gazidis was.
Pooner, have you ever tried owning several multi billion dollar businesses in several continents at the same time ? The only thing you owe those businesses is to have competent administrators running them. Fortunately for them they can see any matches they want on TV (it’s an investment to them and I’m sure they’ll come when we get to the Champions league final), send out the best analysts for first hand feedback, fly Wenger to and fro to answer questions on one of their Private jets, call the entire group on Video etc . And not have to come pull… Read more »
Sorry but it’s way too early to anoint Raul as a ‘smart football man’.
We have no idea who we are going to sign to replace the outgoing players, how they will perform, and whether we can reach top four.
Leave it till the end of the season.
We no longer see the financials, so I guess we don’t know the extent of Silent Stan’s loan account
To your Liverpool example, I believe that if you look at the record, you will see that that the LFC owners understood that *initially* an investment in the club was necessary. Since an initial outlay, they have been smart about marketing and commercial ventures such that they are now able to put profits back into the club.
Edit: they also put a lot of money into redeveloping parts of the stadium that have yielded quite a profit (they’ve been smart all-around)
Without attempting to jinx anything, I’m incredibly impressed by the club demonstrating a ruthless efficiency this window.
From the structuring of deals for our incomings to the acknowledgement that certain players simply have to be moved on.
Long may it continue!
We still have to move on Elneny and Jenks though.
Mustafi would be a great start, no doubt.
For me, since we’re not getting a new RB, Jenks can stay. He didn’t look terrible in preseason, and while he shouldn’t be near first choice, can still do a job there if AMN gets injured in early season or if AMN gets used in a different role.
…and as a goalkeeper he has never conceded a goal. I’d rate him higher than de Gea on their most recent form 😉
Elneny next season for me, we’re 2 injuries away from needing him to play plus he’d be a good senior player for europa.
Was a big fan of elneny a few seasons back. But last season done it for me. I like the guy and love his commitment, but he’s just lacking something. If those two injuries happen play Maitland Niles in the middle
That was surely more about him not being picked by Emery than him suddenly becoming a shit player?
It was real Mustafi but this is where we part ways. Thank you for your service. Go well and blessing upon you and your family.
Exactly. Thanks and genuinely good luck at your next club. One tip from Arsenal fans. When you analyse your performances with your next club and see yourself rashly sliding into tackles please try to decide to do it a bit less in future! Second tip would be perhaps accept a bit more responsibility if you do make a mistake. It might help you at your new club. Cheers.
Please, please somebody, anybody, make this happen!!!
LOL. I can’t actually believe someone is willing to pay 30 mil to sign our error prone Mustafi.
Come on Sanllehi! Come on Edu! Make it happen.
If Raul manages to oversee a summer transfer window where we get: i. Pepe, the most coveted winger in world football right now ii. Tierny, a LB who by all accounts is probably as good as Andy Robertson iii. Saliba, a CB who is one for the future, but looks like he has all the tools to be a world-beater iv. rid of Mustafi for ANYTHING > 20m v. a new CB (I don’t care who he is as long as he’s 6ft+ & > Mustafi Then, wow. Massive wow. Double WOW. I doff my cap to him. Best transfer… Read more »
+ add Ceballos and Martinelli to the mix
If he can pull this off while we’re playing europa, i’d be pleased and look forward to when we have CL to offer.
Serious question about something I don’t understand and would like to: We keep hearing that there is no rush on Tierney because of his injury and because we are confident that we will get a deal over the line. But I don’t understand the benefit of waiting it out. I would think it gives another club an opportunity to swoop in. Why not just get the deal wrapped up as soon as possible? Of course waiting can be a negotiation tactic (pretend we are starting to look at target #2, etc.), but it seems like we are close enough to… Read more »
I’d assume other deals are more of a priority and we need to ensure those are definitely done first before spending limited cash on a player whose further down the To-Do list?
Imagine what saliba or any other defenders that we are interested in thought when they saw mustafi got booed when he subbed in. Just hope they don’t got turned off by our “fans”
Yeah Mustafi can be an abysmal player but to boo our own is just classless. Same awkward feeling I got when we booed Eboue off the pitch after he’d come on as a sub. For me, as long as the player hasn’t disrespected us (I’m looking at your Andre Santos) then when they’re on the pitch they deserve nothing but support.
Aren’t we Arsenal ‘supporters’? Isn’t our role to support the team?
A little bit over people calling out the ‘boos’ he received. Truth is if he wanted a fresh start, he’d have taken a pay cut and have gone to somewhere he could play better/recover. I think that’s where I’m frustrated with him about. Feels like he knows he’s not good enough but is determined to cash in
In his eyes it is always someone else at fault so what is he doing wrong? Why would he need to prove anything to anyone or move on?
Truth is highlighted by the goal at Emirates cup last weekend; While Mustafi was busy waving at the officials calling offside our makeshift right back was trying to cover the ground Mustafi wasn’t defending attempting to make a saving tackle!
World cup winner or not play to the whistle and do the job you are paid for!
I cant blame him, cos i myself aint gonna take no pay cut to move company.
It was frustrating to hear this summer that apparently we’ve been open to letting him go for the past 3 seasons and he has had ‘no interest’ in this – instead continuing to play and make his trademark ‘Mustakes’ to the detriment of the team. As supporters of Arsenal, not Mustafi, I think we have a right to make our feelings known that we (as well as the club it seems) think it would be better if he moved on. If he chooses to stay knowing that – that’s his choice. I appreciate the argument that you wouldn’t move companies… Read more »
If I had a contract like footballers do I’d stay and earn, while hoping my bad patch would pass. Only idiots would try to move when they’re looking poor at their job and they only have a few short years left before they’re looking at retirement. Only a fool demands other people do what he would consider stupid if he was expected to do it. I don’t know where you do your supporting, but Mustafi lives and plays football in the real world.
I find it a bit deluded to call 3 seasons a bad ‘patch’. He’s not good enough for us, he should know that after this length of time and look to move on for his own good. Sticking around actually just makes him look worse to other teams as they know we want to shift him! It’s no secret to anyone that he’s not made the grade with us, he’d still be good enough for slightly lesser teams though and I’m sure some would be interested in him if the financials were right. I think it’s questionable a person would… Read more »
So what? You’re probably shit at your job but still stay their to get paid.
What possible good can booing a player do?
Especially when you consider that all football fans boo the players from other teams that they dislike. It’s a sign of derision and hate. Booing your own player is no better than beating your dog for not fetching you your slippers.
You don’t live in the real world with the rest of us, do you?
This week has been.. ehm, different.
add xhaka to the list, and we can get excited for the season
I would love to see the back of Mustafi as much as the next man but getting rid of him with ~10 days left in the window doesn’t leave much time at all to get even a semi-decent replacement in.
Anything that gets him out of the club, boos, petition. Then so be it. The worst defender since Stepanovs but that useless turd wasn’t on £100k+ plus a week. True liability.
Xhaka out next please, Raul.
Fingers crossed
HEH! Everything crossed.
Funnily enough, I’ve just been watching some re-runs of Happy Days.
Look Mr. Frodo! We’re almost there!
Has been treated awfully by the fan base, No player should be boo’d by his own “fans” however i do think its time to move him on, There saying we value him at 30 mil, Will be great business if we get that for him, Wish him all the best at his new club if it goes through
True, he shouldn’t have been booed at the game. I boo him at home all the time though.
And what was his most memorable moment from the Lyon game? Putting his hand up not once, but twice for offside when caught woefully out of position for their goal. Consistency at its finest.
How will your booing him help?
….especially when you do it at home (do your neighbours give you funny looks after you’ve watched Arsenal).
Did he not make a brilliant sliding tackle in the box? My guess is that you will say he needed to do that because of he was out of position.
Look, he makes terrible mistakes, and much too often. But attacking forwards break on our goal between our centre halfs when Mustafi is on the bench. It looks exactly the same to me.
Target or no target, he MUSTafi go. I’d give bielik a chance. The question is whether chambers is good enough, or do we sell him and get someone else in?
This is great news if it happens. I have no hatred towards him, he never struck me as a bad guy, but it hasn’t worked out and the best thing is if both parties move on. We get a bit of dosh towards improving the team, defence preferably, and he gets a fresh start somewhere else. I hope he lands well in France.
Selling him (and for anything like the money being talked about) would be best for all concerned. Rumours of a loan for Rugani make sense with Saliba en route next season, and (don’t hate me) I’d sign Gary Cahill to make up the numbers too – let Mavropanos go on loan. A loan and a freebie plus £25m+ in the bank probably gives us the cash to get Tierney deal done too. Simples.
Rugani I hear from Italy also makes mistakes Shiny new things does not mean good solutions. Potential young players do not represent immediate solutions. This is the mistake too many amateurs make. Add a Tierney at expense at quality to Cback will be an issue too. Too many loans makes it difficult next summer. There are things that need to be weighed and balance. If we can’t find a good enough replacement, we may not let Mustafi go. The fact that we are listening to offers hopefully means we are looking for a Cback solution (Particularly with Koscielny also likely… Read more »
I know you claim you do not care about the comments and down votes, but perhaps you will just take a moment to consider this: is it really necessary to describe a difference of opinion as “a mistake too many amateurs make,” as if you were a professional football man? Aren’t we all “amateurs” here?
I often agree with the substance of some (certainly not all) of your points. But like many others, I find the tone condescending and unnecessary. Why continue?
Ah, a return to the classics.
i posted yesterday I could see a ruthless squad culling on the horizon, with Ozil, Mustafi and Kolasinac at the very top of that list. Josh Kroenke in his recent interview, talked about moving players out who weren’t going to be part of this journey, and he also told us to be excited. Pepe and Ceballos seem to have energised the fan base, up next will be a ruthless squad culling. Emery worked Ozil out within weeks, Kolasinac+Mustafi are part of Ozil’s clique. If Emery wants to win the battle of the dressing room? He needs to move on players… Read more »
I have no idea why you think Ozil has a clique that includes Mustafi. They are both German, of course, and won the World Cup, but I have never seen them linked otherwise. Perhaps you know something you would share with the rest of us?
Unlikely. Ozil will be hard to move and is a more useful player than many give him credit. Whether he can sustain performance has been the issue but clearly he has talents we are lucky to have. Kolasinac, his defending needs work in a back 4 but he’s good enough back 3 and if you don’t realise, a lot of our assists and good work comes from left side because of him. The ones we need to cull are Elneny and Jenkinson. They are absolutely useless in a bloated squad. Willock replaces Elneny already and Jenkinson is a great fan… Read more »
A lot of our assists come from that side because we’ve been playing on that side a lot, and he makes a decent cross. I like him, make no mistake, but you’re misusing statistics here. Lots of our guys have been passing it to him because then at least something happens. We could do crosses with a winger, and have someone at the back who performed a lot better at the back. My take is that his many crosses have been relatively successful because for years, we’ve been all about passing and passing and looking for the opening. Suddenly we’re… Read more »
So you want a cookie?
Hank Scorpio please just go…
Im impressed that we managed to snag s good loan deal from madrid and sign a bright cb prospect for big money. I’ll be very impressed if we manage to pull off the pepe deal, but ultimately, our best business this summer would be selling mustafi. Hands down.
Not if we do not add. It won’t.
“eager to prove himself” can be translated as “doesn’t want to earn less money elsewhere”
Oh Alex, a lot of people say this about Ozil, you know?
That’s unnecessarily cynical.
Controversial opinion: there is an amazing player somewhere inside Mustafi. He’s got a fantastic engine, great passing range, fantastic aerial ability, versatile across the backline, proactive getting in front of strikers and forcing interceptions. His attitude and mentality have been his undoing. Somehow Wenger and Emery weren’t able to get through to him. If his next manager can teach him to play to the whistle, stay on his feet, and stop blaming others, I wouldn’t be surprised if Mustafi becomes a top, top player. It’s well past time for Mustafi to move on, but I wish him the best and… Read more »
Controversial opinion: It means fuck all, if he does not have at least a decent footballing brain.
Point taken, but at 27 he’s in his prime as a CB and has time to work on those glaring flaws. You don’t have to have the genius of Messi to be a decent CB. You need to sort out your positioning and not make stupid errors. “Footballing brain” is more relevant to midfielders and attackers e.g. Walcott than a CB. I would argue in the “footballing brain” department he has more than enough – he’s capable of reading the game and making great interceptions as well as making incisive passes that completely bypass the midfield. Next coach will receive… Read more »
…and Germany are famous for putting players with no footballing brain in their National teams from U-16 all the way up to the senior team.
His talent was always obvious, most Arsenal supporters knew there is a much better player inside, but his sudden collapses in focus during crucial moments were his downfall; the incessant blaming did not help him either. Because of the fact that people knew he has a lot more in him, he got the most flak.
I also wanted to add to your list of Mustafi’s qualities: for the life of me, I cannot remember the man ever being injured!
Heartening to see more people with fair and balance views. Naturally frustration with the player made some say things that were completely bias against Mustafi. He’s 27yrs so I don’t think Unai can work out the kinks in him. He’s a good defender for the most parts but there’s always that concentration issue. Even in pre-season, you can see he is better than Chambers playing the ball forward, has good aggression and foot skills to move the ball out. Many times, he is the outlet for the backline to kick the ball long (particularly without Granit) BUT he has those… Read more »
this is perhaps the most sensible post in this long and sometimes embarrassing thread
I dont understand why Mustafi has any supporters in the fan base. I keep hearing that 90% of the time he’s good. Or it wasn’t for the lapses in concentration he’d be a good defender. That’s the point about poor defenders. The lapses in concentration only happen now and again but if there are enough of them then they really count in assessing that player. It’s like saying if it wasn’t for the many sitters he missed he would be a prolific striker. He has to have been told many times (and literally watched himself on video) sliding in to… Read more »
Being error prone and injury free is actually a big problem if you think about it. It would be better for us if he did pick up the odd niggle! Booing your own player is a bit rubbish, agreed. But minimising sudden collapses in crucial moments is exactly what top level sports is all about! To excuse it is to be really generous.
I feel like arseblog has never had more of an influence on the arsenal fan base and on a player than with the Mustafi situation. Blogs drew a line in the sand about mustafi (rightly so) early into his first season and I honestly feel it was an opinion that was taken up by most. (e.g. propensity for brain-farts and to go to the ground, blaming others and also “bottling” situations). Most arsenal internetters, influences, podders, bloggers etc resonated this argument and it became Arsenal twitter meme content and eventually then filtered it’s way into mainstream media and eventually the… Read more »
Too much Black Mirror for you mate
He has a point. To some extent the player isn’t helping himself. BUT there are plenty of over imagined faults that play into these narratives once they are generated because most people (with all due respects) are too gullible to think for themselves. Mustafi had faults and blogs is right to pint them out but he also had positives. But the faults out weighed the positives IMO. Yet the criticism from most quarters than became knee jerk rather than based on evidence. Most times (including Blogs) focus was poured on Mustafi’s mistakes ignoring the fact that others were doing the… Read more »
Which is why I’ve always tried to highlight Mustafi issues.
not because I am a fan of his or bc I’m trying to defend him.
I just don’t see balance assessment here and instead dangerous blind criticism/ lazy scapegoating (like with Flamini) that detracts from the real problems in the squad.
Scapegoating does indeed happen at Arsenal and other clubs. However many reasonable fans think that Mustafi deserves the criticism and simply isn’t a good example. One of the other key points is that he has played enough games for us to assess him. Many others who have been roundly criticised haven’t. So the sample size is good. We have had a good hard look at Mustafi. He is really quite a nerve wracking player to watch and you can’t really win an argument by quoting a few isolated score lines when he was or wasn’t there. Bottom line. He has… Read more »
If we sign a CB who can also play RB. This will be the 1st transfer window where I can sit back and say “That’ll do pig. That’ll do “
Umtiti first choice or Upamecano second choice apparently….
Umtiti only wants a CL club, but we’re going for it anyway.
Umtiti is best friends with Lacazette, over to you agent Lacca
Will be difficult but a slim possibility. Raul has connections there to call in. Umtiti has to content with Todibo, Lenglet and Pique. They prob need four Cbacks (Vermaelen getting on, as Pique) but if price is good for them, they should be able to find a good enough replacement to develop. But Umtiti won’t be cheap. Prob upwards of 35-40m Alternative of course is another loan to free up money for Tierney. BUT that may be too many loans and we’ve already pushed the can down the road a little too much IMO. All these seemingly good deals on… Read more »
Vermaelen has apparently gone to play in Japan. I cannot imagine that Barca would sell Umtiti unless they have a fouth centre half who is better,
How about we give him to Celtic as a make-weight for Tierney? We would have to keep paying 1/2 his wages but it would be worth it.
How about they don’t want him?
Give Krystian Bielik a chance. Would like to see him as a back up to Sokratis and Chambers or as a part of back 5, till Holding recovers.
Bielik will only get a look in if BOTH Chambers and Sokratis are sold.
But that would entail we need to get in a HIGH quality Cback prob with the rest of the transfer kitty instead of dissipating effort and trying to fit Tierney as well this summer.
He is hopeless, let’s just admit it. We wasted £35 million on him in 2016 (what could we do with that money now?). When he’s playing, I bet 95% of Gooners are hoping, praying, that he won’t make a stupid mistake – which for a player of his supposed experience (and cost) is totally unacceptable. If we can persuade the likes of AS Roma, AC Milan and Monaco to take him, even on loan, all the better – but let’s not get too carried away with that prospect.
The booing was really inappropriate. It’s not his fault he’s not up to scratch for us. I think we’ve seen Mustafi enough times now to know he just can’t learn the things that would make him a really good centre back, despite his physical abilities. I don’t think any player deserves to be booed unless they really obviously don’t give a shit and act like an arsehole. We should want our players to improve and booing them will only dent their confidence. I know if they read online comments it can’t always help either but then they’re not directly subjected… Read more »
These “fans” with their Stockholm syndrome.. Look, if he wasn’t such an asshole about himself – through social media, blaming his own teammates, consistent schoolboy errors just to name a few.. fans would probably not booed him when he’s on the pitch. He has done that himself.
Why is he an asshole? I don’t think he has blamed his teammates. He has always been there for us. He is also not the only one to make mistakes or have lapses in concentration. First Lyon goal, who was picking up Dembele? Sokratis? Chambers? There were four red shirts in the box to Dembele. Koscielny-Sokratis partnership let in 3 goals against Wolves and four against Chelsea in Europa finals (One of which was a Torreira mistake) Torreira himself responsible for at least 4 goals over Xmas (which is why Xhaka started) from give aways or being fleeced in critical… Read more »
Several questionable points there. Its hard to base an argument on any player by picking out a few isolated score lines when they were there or not there. Its a team game and that logic doesn’t stack up. Also 2 of the players you quote as also making mistakes were in their first season with us. Mustafi has been with us for 3 seasons and has probably got worse each season. And worryingly his mistakes have been really repetitive in nature. Big big difference in sample size between 1 and 3 seasons anyway plus we all know it takes players… Read more »
maybe worth that kind of fee in the italian league as it’s a lot slower.. may turn out rather good there.. good luck to him!
Do you think Mustafi’s problem is his lack of pace? He is surely much quicker than Sokratis, Chambers, Holding, or (now) Koscielny.
no it’s his reading of the game, if he has more time to make a decision it may just improve that side of his game.
2…….25……£25m??????????? Lucky if we get 2.5m
F@#$ing phones…posted in wrong place. Sorry.
We will not forget that header against Spurs!
Sooner the better please
Oh and take Xhaka with ya aswell please,,
If someone thinks that Xhaka is a terrible player, s/he doesn’t know anything about football, period.
Dunno. At times last season, Xhaka was hot garbage. He needs to be much more consistent and cut out the stupid mistakes.
Arsenal has always been very harsh to those who didn’t measure up. John Sammels, Gus Caeser, Eboue all had their confidence slowly destroyed by a large section of the crowd getting on their back. to a large extent howls of frustration played their part in the careers of the likes of Walcott, Fabianski and Denilson too. not one of these footballers was a bad human being and most proved at some point they were decent players too, just not at that time in the role they were being asked of at arsenal. i do think we are worse for this… Read more »
Class.Well said. Too many people have Mustafi on the microscope and pick out his faults only. They don’t mention the sliding tackle he did against Dembele bearing in on goal which had it been Sokratis would not have been deem reckless instead wanked upon. He’s not the best defender old Mustafi by any stretch of the imagination but he did some good things as well. Most of the transition going forward from backline (the ball out from defense) came from him. This is the sort of statistic some prefer not to trumpet and would highlight on say a Saliba instead.… Read more »
Gus Caesar certainly had the dubious honour of being generally regarded as one of the worst central defenders we had for many decades. The difference with him and the others mentioned and Mustafi is that Mustafi cost a staggering £35 million and, according to The Daily Mirror article today, is paid a “six-figure (weekly) salary.” This has been reported previously at around £150,000 a week. He was, and remains, a monumental waste of money – more so at a time when we’re scabbling around with loan deals, loan backs, extended repayments because we’ve so little cash available! He won’t go,… Read more »
Gus Caeser proved a poor player but he looked good when he first made the team, who knows what the spotlight did, certainly he was more in the sanogo category than all the others who were very decent players, Theo, Sammels and Fabianski for example, they just werent what we wanted or hoped so we turned on them.
We shouldn’t boo any of our players, we are better than that …
Burnt offerings and promises of next born child to the gods…
Considering Koscielny & Holding situation, Mustafi can stay as a squad player while he needs to work on his weaknesses. Chambers or Monreal or any other better defender from our academy should be regular CB along with Sokratis until Mustafi sorted his inconsistencies.
I’m surprised (to say the least) at your suggestion that Mustafi should “…stay as a squad player while he needs to work on his weaknesses.” He joined us in 2016, for goodness sake. How long does it take an “experienced” and certainly expensive player to address his weaknesses – which surely shouldn’t be that great in the first place? No, he should – in an ideal world – be sold without delay. The problem is that he almost certainly won’t be because the combination of average (at best) performance and high wages (read: overpaid) is a real transfer killer, if… Read more »
As I mentioned pre-summer, it will likely be between Chambers and Mustafi. Dependent on who gets the better offer and in case of Chambers if he is content with staying on as a third or fourth pick working his way into contention. There’s no guarantee its Mustafi going as well but if a club is OK with his salary, that would be the main issue. If we get 15-20m, we should move him. Contingent that we bring someone in at Cback, not a LBack which would not strengthen us. There is also a chance we may lose BOTH Chambers and… Read more »
Yass!!
If there is interest, sell. We need to make about 20-25m Not sure how much Mustafi fetches maybe anywhere guestimate 14-20m good enough to release IMO. Again, I don’t think he is as bad as many people prefer to make him out to be but clearly he should not be first choice. He plays the ball well forward but has concentration lapses which is not what we need. BUT he isn’t the end to our problems. As some would prefer not to recall…we slipped to poor form even without him and shipped 3 goals to Wolves with Koscielny-Sokratis (and again… Read more »
If my mousewheel wears out, you owe me a new one.
I bet this guy flourishes in a different league, like Italy, just not at The Arsenal, in our league with our set up, high line and defensive frailties.
I hope he goes, and good luck to him, I’m sure he will get game time.
Finally a proper winger we have. No more no.10 on wings please.
one of the great hopes of this summer window is getting rid of this dick. and yes I say dick. almost every single time he fucked up he would make a big deal of remonstrating with a team mate. he was a total shit. just completely out of his depth most of the time.
I’m still absolutely dumbfounded as to why we are buying midfielders/wingers and selling centre backs when our defence is shot to pieces. No point having a quality attack if our defence isn’t up to the same standard.
I get that Mustafi has made mistakes, I get that Kocsielny wants to leave, but we should be coming up with the good for 2 or 3 quality defenders.