Arsenal: Shkodran Mustafi has stumbled into a cushy situation

Arsenal had doubts aplenty about Shkodran Mustafi, but all of a sudden, he’s untouchable. Now let’s see what he can do with that.

Going off of last year alone, you could be forgiven for thinking that Shkodran Mustafi wasn’t long for an Arsenal shirt. Last summer, he was very, very nearly sold to Inter Milan, which then required a quick cover-up by both Arsene Wenger and Mustafi in which they claimed that the transfer was never going to happen, and that they were happy as things turned out.

And then he had a season that could be described most aptly as ‘an enigma.’ He was either fantastic or he was terrible, with very little in between. And while his fantastic was pretty damn fantastic, his terrible was similarly terrible.

Some fans have more patience than others. I wanted to see Mustafi given every chance (as in, several years) to prove that he would hit the fantastic more times than not, but many impetuous fans wanted him sold on the spot.

It got to the point where he was so unreliable that even I thought there was no way he’d make it through the summer. Not with Calum Chambers and the arrival of Sokratis. Plus, Mustafi could have fetched a pretty penny.

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Yet, now, not only has Mustafi not been sold and retained his spot, but he has also managed to get into such a cushy situation that there is strangely no threat to his job.

With Chambers loaned out to Fulham, rather bizarrely I might add, Mustafi’s chief competitor is Rob Holding, with Konstantinos Mavropanos sneaking into that category as well. But neither one, even from the most optimistic fan, has proven enough to warrant starting in the Premier League.

Maybe Mavropanos, who is still serving his red card ban picked up at the end of last season (I believe).

But overall, Mustafi has a free run to prove once and for all that he is exactly who he is supposed to be. I’m not sure how he got into such a comfy situation, but he’s here now, and if you look at his profile as a defender, he fits exactly what Unai Emery would be looking for. He’s active, offensively gifted, and innovative.

So maybe Mustafi’s second life with the club will bring out the best in him. It’d be nice to have something go entirely according to plan.