Arsenal are a membership on the up in the mean time; of that, there will be little doubt.
Mikel Arteta and Edu Gaspar have overseen a dramatic turnaround within the Gunners’ fortunes, a lot of which has been as a consequence of sensible signings like Martin Odegaard, Gabriel Martinelli, and mega-money £105m signing Declan Rice.
Nonetheless, it wasn’t that way back that the membership had been making common blunders within the switch market, and there’s maybe none extra obvious than Shkodran Mustafi.
Shkodran Mustafi’s profession at Arsenal
Arsenal spent £35m to signal Mustafi from La Liga outfit Valencia in August 2016 off the again of two spectacular seasons from the then-24-year-old, and it was a transfer that clearly happy then supervisor Arsène Wenger as he stated:
“He’s on the proper age. He has good expertise. He’s a really targeted participant who can play with the ball as effectively. We have now taken an excellent participant however have ready effectively for the longer term.”
Sadly for each participant and supervisor, this description of the Unhealthy Hersfeld-born defender was by no means seen by the followers in England. As a substitute, they noticed a participant who was a constant concern on the again for almost all of his tenure in north London.
Arsenal’s beginning XI for Shkodran Mustafi’s full debut |
---|
Arsenal 2-1 Southampton: September 2016 |
GK – Petr Cech |
RB – Hector Bellerin |
CB – Shkodran Mustafi |
CB – Laurent Koscielny |
LB – Nacho Monreal |
DM- Francis Coquelin |
DM – Santi Cazorla |
LM – Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain |
CAM – Mesut Ozil |
RM – Theo Walcott |
ST – Lucas Perez |
In March 2019, simply two and a half years into his time on the Emirates, the German was labelled the “King of the blunders” by former Arsenal and Chelsea midfielder Emmanuel Petit, who had seen sufficient of his calamitous defending by that time.
The Frenchman wasn’t alone in his criticism of the previous Valencia man, both. Only a month later, Arsenal legend Martin Keown took intention following a dreadful show in opposition to Crystal Palace, proclaiming, “It is schoolboy defending” after a horrific mix-up between defender and goalkeeper.
In all, the German worldwide by some means made 151 appearances for the Gunners throughout his 4 and a half years on the membership, during which he earned round £90k-per-week, which means that he price the membership round £56m in whole.
Whereas his time as an Arsenal participant actually wasn’t as unhealthy as some may make it out, the truth that he was incomes the identical wage that Leandro Trossard earns now is a testomony to how a lot the membership has modified in the previous couple of years.
That stated, how did Mustafi get on after leaving Arsenal?
Shkodran Mustafi’s post-Arsenal profession
The 6-foot centre-back joined Bundesliga outfit Schalke in February 2021 after the Gunners agreed to terminate his contract six months early, with it clear that he had no future in London.
What might, and maybe ought to, have been a contemporary begin for the then-28-year-old titan shortly deteriorated into one other nightmare as, in his 13 appearances, the membership had been relegated for the first time since 1988, and so, fairly unsurprisingly, the short-term deal he signed was not renewed.
The subsequent step in his profession noticed the German return to Valencia, however this time to play for fierce rivals Levante.
Sadly, this was one other transfer that went poorly. In his first season with the membership, he made simply 11 appearances as a consequence of damage and confronted his second relegation in as a few years because the workforce completed nineteenth. The next season was simply as unhealthy, as damage restricted him to only three appearances in whole.
After two years with Los Granotas, the 20-capped worldwide was launched final summer time.
As issues stand, he’s nonetheless with out a membership, though final month, there have been hyperlinks to Serie A aspect Salernitana, so he may simply be again in motion earlier than the tip of the season.
The place Are They Now
Questioning the place your most beloved or hated gamers at the moment are? Soccer FanCast’s The place Are They Now sequence is right here to assist.