Arsenal defender Shkodran Mustafi has been linked to a shock move to FC Barcelona by media outlet Mundo Deportivo. It appears that the rumors started after the player’s agent Emre Öztürk posted a picture outside Camp Nou with the caption,“Ready for the meeting”.
Later, Öztürk confessed to journalist Fabian Zerche that he had to come to Camp Nou to talk about a potential move for Mustafi, “I’m not in Barcelona because of Yusuf Demir, but because of another player whom we also represent.”
The Blaugrana are clearly looking to bring in another central defender as a replacement for the injured Gerard Pique, in order to provide more depth to the backline. Ronald Koeman has put his faith in youngsters Ronald Araujo and Oscar Mingueza but will be looking to bring in someone more experienced who can add quality to the squad.
Mustafi has previous experience of playing in the LaLiga with Valencia, having played there for two years from 2014-2016 before making a £35 million move to North London.
However, an internal source at Barcelona is said to have confirmed that there is no chance Mustafi will be coming to Barcelona and that the visit of his agent was a mere courtesy, and there was no real interest from their side.
The 28-year-old has struggled to maintain consistency over the past couple of seasons, and Arteta clearly views him as a liability to start in defence after having made several errors at the back in high-profile fixtures. In fact the German has played just eight games across competitions for Arsenal this season and appeared just twice in the league.
It is still unclear whether the player will leave on a fee in January or as a free agent in May, but it is certain that there appear to be no contract talks forthcoming from Arsenal who are looking to offload him in the near future.
Eric Garcia of Manchester City still remains the number one priority for Barcelona in the winter, who will be hoping they can tempt the Spaniard back to Camp Nou after having a move in the summer rejected for the defender. It does seem very unlikely that Barcelona will pursue any moves for Mustafi, and will look elsewehere to rebuild and solidify their defence.
