Arsenal defender Shkodran Mustafi could soon be out of the Emirates Stadium with his agent set to fly to Turkey to discuss a possible move to Galatasaray.
The German has fallen down the pecking order at the club behind David Luiz, Rob Holding, Calum Chambers, and Sokratis Papastathopoulos. He has started just once in the Premier League this season after a number of errors committed at the back last season as they missed out on top four once again.
Arsenal new manager Mikel Arteta has kept the centre-back away from his starting XI since his appointment as the Gunners manager. Mustafi has played just 10 times for the Gunners this season in all competitions, with most of his appearances coming in the Europa League and Carabao Cup.
According to Turkish newspaper Fotomac, Mustafi’s new representatives are ready to fly out to Turkey to discuss with Galatasaray officials about a potential move to the club. The German is expected to move on loan, with the Turkish club looking for a new central defender having lost Christian Luyindama to an ACL injury last year.
With his inability to get game time, Arsenal will be counting their loss on the defender, who they signed from Valencia in 2016 for £35million. Earlier this season, Mustafi had a spat with the Arsenal fans when he claimed their criticism of him was totally unjustified.
He told Spiegel: “I’m self-critical enough to realise that I made mistakes. I can also deal with tough criticism. But the criticism has become escalated and irrational.
“I have become a target. At some point, people even blamed me for a defeat I had not played in at all.
“Football has become more inhumane. Social media has also contributed to this, because anyone can comment, without names. People can unload their frustrations directly on us.
If Arsenal were to lose Mustafi, they will be short at the back given their lack of options in defence. With Konstantinos Mavropanos heading to FC Nuremberg, Sead Kolasinac, Kieran Tierney and Hector Bellerin suffering from injuries and Calum Chambers suffering a season-ending ACL injury, the Gunners would be left with just Sokratis, David Luiz and Rob Holding as defence options.
