Arsenal: Shkodran Mustafi will grow to overtake Laurent Koscielny

Arsenal are witnessing the “coming of age” of Shkodran Mustafi, and it’s clear that he will absolutely grow to overtake Laurent Koscielny.

First of all, I just want to start by saying that I have always been batty (in a good way) about Shkodran Mustafi, from the moment Arsenal signed him. I wasn’t sure why they paid more to get him rather than pay less to get Mats Hummels, but you can just about never go wrong with a young German defender.

He began his Arsenal career with a 19-match unbeaten streak. So long as he started the match, the Gunners were unbeatable. Talk about getting settled quickly, that sort of thing is not supposed to happen.

That streak has passed away, but the new ones are just as impressive. While he is on the pitch this year, the Gunners have surrendered one measly goal. He’s been absolutely sensational and his maturation is coming a long way.

A lot of the credit has to go to Arsene Wenger, who wisely swapped Mustafi to the center of the back three and pushed Laurent Koscielny out to the right hand side, where Mustafi used to be. This has revolutionized everything for the Gunners and left them capable of shutting down any attack.

But why was it that a simple swap like that was so effective? Well, I’m going to answer that with a rather controversial statement. It’s because Mustafi is better than Koscielny. Or, at the very least, he will be better than him.

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I have zero qualms claiming this, while adding the sole caveat that, obviously, he remains at Arsenal. The reason why this claim can be so properly defended is because Mustafi has one major attribute that Koscielny never had. Koscielny leads by example, and there is a lot of merit in that. But Mustafi leads by example and with his voice.

And he has a bit of a fire that you don’t always see in Koscielny. Extrapolating beyond that, Mustafi may be our sought-after long-term captain that hasn’t existed since Tony Adams. Since Adams, captains have lasted about a year and a half to two years on average. Mustafi is making himself a prime candidate to take the band when his countryman Per Mertesacker retires and, from there, why can’t he keep it seven, eight years?

He is a central player in a crucial role with all of the answers to hold everything together, clearly. And, for those worried about his rashness, even when he does merit a yellow card, he is smart enough to not double up on that and turn it red.

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This is the future of the defense, but he is more than that. Given the right investment, he can become one of the best defenders we’ve ever had. Bank on it, I know I am.

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