Arsenal: Where’s The Urgency With Mustafi?

Arsenal are reportedly still interested in signing Valencia centre-half Shkodran Mustafi, though no bid has yet been made. This leads me to ask: Where is the urgency?

Arsenal are in a hole when it comes to centre-half. A position that already portrayed weaknesses before the start of the summer has since revealed further issues due to the injury of Per Mertesacker.

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The German international is set to miss four months with a knee injury and suddenly, with Laurent Kosielny being held out of action due to his international exertions with France, the options available to Arsene Wenger were not particularly convincing.

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Gabriel has struggled since joining the Gunners but is not set to be the senior defender. He will be joined by either Calum Chambers, Krystian Bielik or Rob Holding for at least the opening weekend’s match at home to Liverpool.

None of these instill any sort of confidence and it begs the question why Arsenal have not committed their summer resources to acquiring a top class centre-half to come into the starting eleven straight away. The name that seems to be linked with a move to the Emirates more than any other is Shkodran Mustafi, however, since the first reports came to the fore, any momentum on a possible move seems to have stalled.

David Ornstein of BBC states that Arsenal are yet to make a bid for the Valencia defender, and the lack of urgency to bring in a much-needed solution is confusing. Not only do Arsenal need a central defender, but they need one who can play immediately, and it would be a sensible move to sign any prospective centre-half to a deal as soon as possible.

Mustafi is the absolute perfect player for the Gunners. Strong in the air and comfortable on the ball, Mustafi has a great understanding of the nuances of the game, which results in excellent positional play, something that can translate to success in a variety of defensive systems.

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Mustafi seems such an obvious option for Arsenal at center half, that the lack of urgency is hard to comprehend. Wenger is notoriously tight in the transfer market, but he has shown a willingness to spend big on the right player. Mustafi is most definitely the right player, so where’s the spending?