Barcelona Line Up Shock Move for Arsenal Flop

Arsenal, meet 2020, a quite mad year.

Many of us would rather erase this period in history from the record books, forget it ever happened and start afresh. However, just when you thought it couldn’t get any more unbelievable, this piece of Arsenal news floats to the surface.

Far from being the only club in a period of slight disarray, Barcelona are another side dealing with issues far worse than Arsenal’s off the pitch, but with similar issues on it. Ronald Koeman hasn’t cracked the code of footballing fluidity despite the wealth of riches at his disposal, and a lack of available central defenders hasn’t helped either.

As it is, Koeman has just three to choose from. Gerard Pique, Clément Lenglet and Ronald Araujo are who he’s left with, but while solid options in their own right, a fourth to provide cover for the trio is desired. Who is on their list?

Shkodran Mustafi.

In the words of Bill Leslie, do not scratch your eyes.

This is the line coming out of Sport in Spain, who are seeking a loan deal in January to complement their current crop should Manchester City stand firm on Eric Garcia. A low cost, internationally experienced defender is what they’re after. Mustafi is what they’ve come to.

He’s not alone, as Chelsea’s Antonio Rudiger is mentioned with Liverpool’s Joel Matip, as well as Serie A duo Federico Fazio and Germán Pezzella.

You have to ask the question, if Shkodran Mustafi is the answer, what is the question? Only Koeman will know what that is but you can’t help wondering whether he is aware of literally anything that happened in the previous four years.

Nobody at Arsenal should have any ill-feelings towards the 28-year-old. He isn’t a bad guy. He’s just dreadful.

It would please supporters greatly to see Mustafi don the famous Blaugrana shirt and share a pitch with Lionel Messi. Beyond the lessened wages, it’d be hard not to rejoice in seeing Mustafi turn out for such a prestigious club.

Heck, if he went on loan and was superb at Camp Nou, they might even sign him permanently. It’d mean nothing to Arsenal since he’s already out of contract, but we all desire more Julien Faubert from West Ham to Real Madrid levels of insanity.

Make it happen, Barcelona.