Arsenal: Shkodran Mustafi learning the ugly side of being top class

Arsenal signed up Shkodran Mustafi for an expensive fee two summers ago, and now he is finally feeling the backlash of his own abilities.

The summer when Arsenal signed Shkodran Mustafi at the buzzer, there was one question that kept plaguing my mind. Why would we spend £35m on Mustafi when Mats Hummels was purchased for £30m and was never contacted by Arsene Wenger?

It felt like a desperation signing, but I was happy enough with it. Mustafi was young and athletic and I was thrilled to actually have someone.

People still argue whether his inaugural season was good or not. It completely baffles me. The guy pocketed Diego Costa on two separate occasions in his first ever season. He went 19 matches unbeaten in his first ever season. What more can you want from him?

Anyway, that’s beating a dead horse. Mustafi has only gotten better this year, but in true journalistic fashion, beating a dead horse is a way of life, so the question was brought up to Mustafi recently about what exactly happened when he was supposedly on his way to Inter Milan.

He didn’t seem too pleased. Wenger had said that Mustafi was not close, but Mustafi had yet to comment. Here’s what he finally ended up saying (via the Guardian):

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"You [reporters] like to get the shit, the biggest shit. That’s your job. People outside, talking and thinking that they know everything. What happens in the changing room is the real thing. I don’t understand why people just talk about things they cannot know about. If I have been talking to clubs or if I haven’t, it’s only rumours. Obviously there are so many newspapers, they need something to write because it’s boring if the paper is empty."

Needless to say, Mustafi was not amused, though this is all part of life in the Premier League, and as a top class defender at last, Mustafi is going to be in the front lines of rumors such as this and, personally, seeing him get fired up about it is pretty exciting.

Mustafi is clearly a passionate player and if the talking heads spewing filth about stuff they know nothing about gets him eve more fired up, then by all means, let the passion rain.

I have to say I was horribly nervous at the rumors of his departure, and while Mustafi didn’t exactly completely disavow them, what he said was more than ample to remove any fears of his ongoing future with the club.

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Not to mention he fact that Harry Kane has joined the party of “world class” strikers in Mustafi’s pocket.

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