Arsenal: Hummels Silence Sheds Light On Mustafi Signing

Arsenal did absolutely nothing when Mats Hummels was looking for a new home. What does that say about the signing of Mustafi?

Arsenal supporters should be thrilled with the signing of Shkodran Mustafi. They should be thrilled with Lucas Perez too, but that’s a topic for another day (namely, yesterday). Mustafi has all the upside in the world to be the next great German defender and I could not be happier that he will be making that leap in a Gunner’s shirt.

But it got me thinking. What exactly does the reported signing of Mustafi mean about Arsenal’s deafening silence when Mats Hummels moved to Bayern Munich?

Most will recall what Hummels said when asked about his move, in particular, what he said about Arsenal. “I don’t have to beat about the bush, and pretend they [Arsenal] wanted me. There was no offer,” he said, as quoted by the Express.

Borussia Dortmund reportedly stamped a £30m price tag on Hummels before he moved to Bayern, which would mean that he cost a whole £5m less than Shkodran Mustafi.

What can we make of that?

I have whittled it down to five possible answers as to why Wenger would spend more on Mustafi and not even submit a concrete offer for Hummels. Let’s eliminate a few of my possibilities right off the bat.

The first assumption we can eliminate is that Wenger thinks ill of Hummels. No one thinks ill of Hummels, except now all of Borussia Dortmund. Wenger would by no means think poorly of arguably the best defender in the world. So scratch that off the list. We are down to four.

The next one we can probably erase is the concept that age was a contributing factor. While rumors are merely rumors, Arsenal was also linked to two other 27 year old defenders – Omer Toprak and Simon Kjaer. Plus, he has reportedly landed a 27 year old striker. Let’s scratch age off the list as well.

The third one I will erase probably won’t be unanimous; that Wenger is lazy. In the summer when Wenger landed Danny Welbeck, I believe that he was lazy. This summer, I don’t think so. So many deals were just not going through as easily as we are used to, but they were still in the works. No, Wenger was not simply ‘lazy’.

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Which leaves me with two assumptions. One incredibly positive. One rather negative.

Let’s get the negative one out of the way.

Coming into the summer months, Wenger noted that Arsenal needed to strengthen defensively. We all knew that as well. It was a fact. But early in the transfer window, Gabriel and Mertesacker were both healthy and the Rob Holding move was well under way. With Rob Holding in the works, chances are Wenger could have seen that as his solution.

Which means that while Mustafi was not a ‘desperation’ signing, it did take serious injuries for Arsenal to land him. I don’t like that concept one bit. Someone like Mustafi was always needed and if this assumption is the correct one, then shame on Wenger.

The only assumption we have not covered is perhaps that Wenger thinks more highly of Mustafi than Hummels. Which is interesting. It would be a hard claim to back up, but we will just have to wait and see how it pans out.

Next: Arsenal's Top 10 Prospects

What do you think Gooners? Was Wenger never planning on buying Mustafi? That seems the most logical conclusion.

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