Arsenal and Shkodran Mustafi: Is there really a decision?

Arsenal have plenty of difficult sales decisions to make this summer. Shkodran Mustafi is not one of them. So why the delay?

As soon as the initial reports of Arsenal’s measly transfer budget surfaced, it was clear what would define their summer business: the quantity and quality of sales they could make by offloading a mire of unwanted squad players.

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Consequently, Unai Emery was always going to have a whole lot of decisions to make regarding a lot of different players. With the onus on him to raise his own transfer funds, the difficult decisions were very much on the horizon — and given the delay in transfer business, still are on the horizon.

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There are plenty of players that are difficult to determine with reasonable arguments on either side of the decision. Mesut Ozil, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and plenty more. These players pose a far more uncertain case and there are genuine reasons to keep them or sell them, some of those reasons more convincing than others.

But then there are some other players that are not so murky a case. Mohamed Elneny, Carl Jenkinson, David Ospina, who was officially sold to Napoli this week, are all clear examples of players who should be sold this summer.

And then there is Shkodran Mustafi, perhaps the most talented of the obviously unwanted contributors to the squad. The German defender endured another tumultuous season, his error-prone ways again belying the £35 million invested in him three years ago.

Last summer, some were willing to be patient with the central defender. Yes, he made some foolish errors, but he had a terrific skill set that could be worked with and, should he finally figure it all out, he might turn out to be a useful defender. That was the thinking, at least.

But now, after a third season littered with horrendously simple mistakes, even his staunchest supporters have seemingly admitted that he will never be able to piece it all together. The time to sell, according to almost everyone, is now, including, it has been reported, Emery, who is the ultimate decision maker in the end.

Whereas for other players there are still some reasons to hang onto them, however faint they may be, for Mustafi, the excuses are running bare. Very bare. In fact, I am struggling to think of a genuine one in favour of keeping him.

A sale, then, seems inevitable. The only thing that is left to happen? The actual sale, which, like the rest of Arsenal’s transfer activity, is going rather slowly.