With the transfer window in full swing, Mikel Arteta has vowed to trim down Arsenal’s bloated squad to a manageable level, and it would appear that there is a massive clearout in progress especially amongst our defenders.
Kolasinac has gone back to Hertha, Saliba is on loan at Nice, Sokratis is reported to be actively looking for a new club, and there have been rumours that Shkodran Mustafi is also on the disposable list having just six months left on his contract. Arsenal have tried to offload the German in previous windows without success (probably due to his high wages) and just today it is being reported that he has turned down an offer from Genoa in Italy, and another report says Mustafi has been offered to Inter Milan for free.
Should Arsenal really be so quick to let him go? If all the above departures go ahead, Arteta will still have Luiz, Holding, Mari, Gabriel and Calum Chambers available as centre-backs, but will that be enough considering our record of injuries and suspensions to our back line?
Mustafi has literally played just 45 minutes in the League so far this season, but he has been useful in the Europa League games to give our main defenders a break, and with hopefully a long run in that competition and the FA Cup, we could probably do with an extra body at the back.
I know we are trying to save on our wage bill, and Mustafi is believed to be in a high wage bracket, but I think he has set his sights on a bigger move in the summer with a large signing on fee going his way as a free transfer.
Do you think we should keep him in reserve until the summer or try and get a small transfer fee for him this month?