Arsenal: Shkodran Mustafi Signing Must Lead To More

Arsenal have made a significant step closer to signing Shkodran Mustafi on Thursday. If the deal is completed, it must lead to more before the deadline.

Arsenal are eeking towards the second big name addition of this summer’s transfer window. After adding Borussia Monchengladbach’s Granit Xhaka in early June for around £35 million, many saw the next few months as a time where the club could press on with a few key additions to assemble a squad capable of a sustained title challenge.

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Such hopes have, once again, subsided, usurped by anger and frustration. However, recent days have brought the first piece of good news on the transfer front for some time with reports stating that Arsenal and Shkodran Mustafi have come to terms on a prospective deal.

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The completion to such a deal has a long way to go, but it is certainly a positive sign for the Gunners. However, if Mustafi is indeed signed, he is not enough to appease me and many other supporters.

Coming into the summer, I was hoping for three big signings to set the side up for a run at the title. A centre-half was an absolute necessity, a striker or right winger was another and a bruising defensive midfielder was the third. Xhaka nearly fulfils the wish for a midfielder, but neither a defender or attacking player has been signed yet, and time is running out.

If this summer is to be considered a success, more than just Mustafi must be added to the squad before the August 31st deadline. Mustafi is an essential addition, especially with the decimation of the position with recent injury issues.

However, further additions are needed and there have been a plethora of viable options linked with a move. Strikers Alexandre Lacazette and Wilfried Bony have both been linked with a move to the Emirates, while rumors around Julian Draxler and Riyad Mahrez have existed, and continue to persist, all summer.

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Mustafi would be a sensational signing. That much is clear. The Gunners, though, need so much more than just Mustafi and without that attacking player being brought in, the Premier League is a much tougher ask.