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Arsenal open talks with agent of German international – reports

By on July 26, 2016

According to the Daily Star, Arsenal have opened talks with the agent of Valencia defender Shkodran Mustafi about a potential move to the Emirates this summer.

Arsene Wenger’s need to sign a new top class centre-back has been heightened by news that Per Mertesacker is facing up to five months on the sidelines with a knee injury.

Laurent Koscielny is set to miss the start of the new season due to his late arrival to pre-season training following his exploits at Euro 2016 while Gabriel is currently on the sidelines with tonsillitis.

So, if the Mertesacker reports are true, then we certainly need to bring in a new centre-back over the coming days and the Daily Star are quoting Italian journalist Emanuele Giulianelli as saying that Arsenal have now opened talks with the agent of Shkodran Mustafi.

Giulianelli claims the German international is a target along with Inter Milan’s Jeison Murillo but he suggests that Wenger wants to sign a striker before completing any deal for a defender.

The journo is quoted by the Daily Star as saying:

“Last week contacts between Arsenal and the agent of Shkodran Mustafi, German defender.

“Obviously Mustafi isn’t the big deal. He’s an option for CB – though Murillo remains a target.

“Club want to get forward sorted first.”

Mustafi was once on the books at Everton and enjoyed a two-year spell at Sampdoria before joining Valencia in 2014 where he’s developed in to one of the best centre-backs in Spanish football.

The 24-year-old is also a full German international with 12 caps to his name so far and he featured for the World Champions at Euro 2016 this summer, scoring once against Ukraine.

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His main position is in the middle of defence but Mustafi can also fill-in at right-back if required so I think he’d be a very useful addition to the squad if we could get a deal agreed with Valencia.

However, the La Liga outfit are under no pressure to sell as the defender still has three years left on his contract so we may have to be prepared to make them an offer they can’t refuse.