With five days before the beginning of the season and no established centre-backs, Arsenal are working day and night to bring in reinforcements.
And according to the messiah of Gunners transfer news, David Ornstein, they’ve stepped up their efforts to try and land Shkodran Mustafi as quickly as possible.
The news comes after the injury to Gabriel turned out to not be as bad as first expected, with the Brazilian now set to miss 6-8 weeks of first team action.
With Arsenal’s rivals all announcing signings for fun today, Ornstein took to Twitter to restore some faith in Arsene Wenger, who is now ready to pay the £25million asking price Valencia have been holding out for.
Arsenal CB Gabriel out 6/8wks – ankle sprain. Not quite as bad as he 1st feared but #AFC stepping up pursuit of Valencia’s Shkodran Mustafi
— David Ornstein (@bbcsport_david) August 9, 2016
It’s not the situation Wenger was looking for, and he would have much rather played cat and mouse with the La Liga side to get Mustafi for the lowest possible valuation.
But following the injury sustained by Gabriel, which looks to be an ankle sprain, Wenger has been quick to react in the market and talks look to be at an advanced stage with Valencia.
Although there’s nothing to say that the 24-year-old will fit into the team like a glove, the Gunners boss doesn’t have much of a choice and experience is needed at the back.
Currently speaking, Arsenal will line up with Calum Chambers (21) and new signing Rob Holding (20) against Liverpool on Sunday should they fail to land Mustafi in time.
Opening day at the Emirates against a side that have spent £64million adding to their side this summer is a daunting prospect for Holding to make his competitive debut though.
For that reason, and to ensure his confidence isn’t affected in the long-term, Wenger needs to add to that back line quickly with players capable of playing at the highest level.
Mustafi is fresh from the Euro’s and has enjoyed a good two-week spell training with Valencia during their pre-season tour of the UK whilst playing Crystal Palace and Bournemouth.
He’s also very good friends with national teammate Mesut Ozil, so having the familiar faces of him and Per Mertesacker around will help him adjust to English football a lot sooner.
This deal looks to be the first and most likely to go through so keep an eye on Fresh Arsenal for all of the latest news, views and pictures if and when the signing is confirmed.
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