Arsenal: Shkodran Mustafi A Rip-Off Worth Paying

Arsenal are close to agreeing a deal with Valencia in excess of £35 million for Shkodran Mustafi. That is a rip-off, but it’s a rip-off worth paying.

With a lack of planning and preparation heading into the summer, Arsenal entered the final week of the transfer window with lots of problems and very few solutions. Armed with plenty of cash but without a will, Arsene Wenger has struggled to secure any major signings, and as such, the needs of the squad have only increased.

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With the ever-increasing desperation of Wenger, who has seemingly ventured from target to target like a headless chicken, devoid of direction and deliberation, selling clubs have, rightly it must be said taken the opportunity to vastly raise their prices for prospective Arsenal targets.

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Consequently, in solving the problems that the club faces with only a few days remaining, Arsenal will, like it or not Mr Wenger, have to fork out the cash necessary to acquire the solutions required. One player who has been identified as an option this summer is Valencia defender Shkodran Mustafi. After a long and drawn out process, of which success and failure have been flirtations of rumours, a major breakthrough seems to have occurred in negotiations with the two clubs reportedly close to an agreement north of £35 million.

While many will be happy that Wenger finally seems to have accepted that spending is the way forward, is Mustafi the right candidate to headline such a shift (or apparent shift) in philosophy – though Wenger will dispute that statement as he has continually maintained that he is willing to invest heavily – especially at over-hyped price of nearly £40 million?

Certainly, in the modern climate, £30-40 million is no longer a blockbuster, heavy hitting price that shocks and excites. It is merely the price to be paid for a top quality player. Mustafi, then, for any other club is simply a run-of-the-mill, routine signing that occurs year on year as the eternal endeavour to improve the squad continues on.

But, is Mustafi actually worth that much? Is he the world class centre-half that we are all yearning for? Is he the anchor on which Arsenal’s back four can rest? Well, only time will tell. Wenger certainly thinks so and is willing to bet £40 million on it. I am not so confident. Mustafi is certainly a very good defender, calm and composed, unruffled under pressure, quick across the ground and adept in the tackle.

But he also has his fair share of weaknesses. Standing at only 6’0”, he is not the dominant, aerially imposing defender that the Gunners have needed since the days of Tony Adams. He is sometimes loose in his positioning, especially from crosses, another aspect of the game that Arsenal have notoriously struggled with.

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Having said that, he is a talented defender and a solution to the problem, and sometimes, the price is not important, the result is. Is Pogba worth £89 million? No. Will anyone care, after a glistening decade at Old Trafford? Mustafi is a rip-off, but he’s still worth every penny.