Deal Done: German defender in London, Arsenal to strike deal; later today!
Jul 31, 2016 at 2:57 PM
Valencia defender Shkodran Mustafi is reportedly in London and Arsenal could sit with the highly sought-after German to discuss over a potential move.
According to Spanish news outlet Marca, the Germany international is set to join up with the rest of his team-mates in London for pre-season following his extended holiday for Euro 2016.
The Gunners are believed to have placed a £25.3million bid for the Germany international, and him being in the UK can only make it easier to finalize a deal.
Mustafi, who had a spell at Everton, is rumoured to have a £42m release clause in his contract at Valencia, but the Gunners are not ready to pay such a high fee.
But Valencia needs to offload a number of players this summer because of the Financial Fair Play regulations and the Spanish outfit could be willing to strike a deal.
The German defender is understood to be interested in working with Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger, and it’s believed Valencia may settle for a £25m fee.
Arsene Wenger revealed this week that he needed to sign another centre-back due to a long-term injury to Per Mertesacker.
The Gunners boss said: “[Mertesacker] had surgery yesterday in Germany. It all went well. I know you will ask me for how long he will be out. I don’t know that, it’s months, but I don’t know how long he will be out for.”
He added: “We have to look for an option to get a bit more experience. With Per being out, we are a bit short on the experience front and we are looking to bring somebody in.”
The 24-year-old Germany international has emerged as a top defensive talent after impressing at Sampdoria and Valencia and has been part of German squads at the last two major international tournaments.
So far Arsenal have been rather conservative in the transfer market. Granit Xhaka was a big early buy, but only future prospects Takuma Asano and Rob Holding have arrived since.