Report: Valencia and Barcelona want Arsenal man Shkodran Mustafi

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Barcelona and Valencia are eyeing a shock raid on Arsenal to sign defender Shkodran Mustafi during the January transfer window, according to Catalan outlet Sport.

The 29-year-old centre-back has found himself out of favour under Mikel Arteta and his contract expires next summer.

Mustafi arrived at the Emirates Stadium in 2016 fresh from winning the World Cup with Germany.

He has made 146 appearances during his time in North London, scoring nine goals and lifting the FA Cup twice.

More recently, however, he has found first-team football hard to come by.

The summer arrival of Gabriel Magalhaes has limited his opportunities, with Rob Holding and David Luiz also showing their capabilities this season.

Mustafi is wanted by the La Liga giants, with Barcelona’s interest particularly surprising.

The Catalan giants haven’t made a great start to 2020/21 and currently sit eight as Ronald Koeman tries to find a winning formula.

Valencia’s interest is perhaps less of a surprise given his former affiliation to the club.

He played 81 times for the club, becoming a real fan favourite before moving to Arsenal for £35 million (BBC).

The Gunners might have more targets of their own in mind in January.

In order to strengthen, Arteta might have to sell though and Mustafi leaving might not be such a bad thing.

TBR View – The time is right to offload Mustafi

Arsenal have shown flashes of brilliance this season – with a recent win over Manchester United at Old Trafford a particular highlight.

They still crave consistency, however, and Arteta’s squad still has some holes to plug.

With the club outside the Champions League bubble for so long, they’ll perhaps need to be savvy in the transfer market.

Mustafi earns £90,000-a-week at the Emirates Stadium and although the fee is unlikely to be huge, offloading him would provide a mid-season bonus for the Gunners.

Letting the defender leave for nothing is nonsensical.

With that in mind, Arsenal must act in January if offers are forthcoming.