Arsenal Defender Rejects New Contract in Favour of Summer Departure

Shkodran Mustafi has rejected a new deal to extend his Arsenal stay.

News of the German’s decision comes mere hours after he was guilty of losing his man for the goal Arsenal conceded in Sunday’s 1-0 home defeat to Leicester City.

It goes without saying that it wasn’t like Mikel Arteta woke up this morning and decided to hand him one just now. Of course not, and, as football.london state, this was offered to Mustafi back in the summer – we can perhaps presume around the time that William Saliba was expected to be a regular and Rob Holding was allowed to leave on loan.

With those circumstances, and the fact that the 28-year-old started 15 of Arsenal’s last 17 games under Arteta before a knee injury ruled him out of our Wembley wins, that the decision was somewhat merited.

https://twitter.com/MustafiOfficial/status/1318931511673049088

Mustafi had been, alongside Granit Xhaka, the most improved player at the club since the Spaniard took the reins and offering him a new deal based on that renaissance would not have been so frowned upon if the story had come to light at that stage of Arteta’s tenure.

Here we are now with tempers still not simmered as the dust settles on defeat, and with Mustafi partially at fault for the goal, uproar is natural.

I do not believe, nor have ever believed, that Mustafi is good enough to be a regular centre-back for Arsenal. Too rash and unpredictable, at a point in the current football climate where a central defender never does anything of note in either box and racks up 6.5/10 performances per week is a rare commodity, his irrational behaviour doesn’t suit.

Can he be an OK backup before other arrivals join? Sure, if he’s at the pre-injury form. But it will never be more than that. If, indeed, he ever amounted to that.

Well, we needn’t worry either way, since he wants to leave at the end of the season when his deal runs out. No wonder we tried to flog him off. We might even try again in January.

Watching Wesley Fofana play brilliantly at the Emirates with Saliba nowhere to be seen will have riled supporters. Yet, if Mustafi wants out in less than 12 months then those committed have a chance to come to the fore, namely Saliba.

Arsenal have four games in little over a week. He may get his first sniff of action.