He eventually signed for Arsenal for around £35 million on August 30th but Arsene Wenger has now revealed the real reason why the Shkodran Mustafi transfer took so long, report the Daily Star.
Speaking at the Gunners’ AGM earlier today, Wenger claimed an injury sustained by Mustafi in pre-season and a subsequent lack of match practice was a big factor.
The long-serving Frenchman claimed: “We started negotiating, we met with Ivan Gazidis in the States with the agent of Mustafi and agreed the deal but it took long to get over the line as Valencia were reluctant to sell.
Going down 3-4 to Liverpool on the opening weekend at Emirates Stadium, Gunners fans were heavily critical of Wenger that he entered that game under prepared with youngsters Rob Holding and Calum Chambers needing to fill in at centre back.
With Per Mertesacker and Gabriel Paulista having sustained injuries in pre-season, this was seen as negligent by most Gunners but they were pleased to get the deal for Mustafi concluded in the end.
Mustafi has impressed early into his Arsenal career starting the Gunners’ last six consecutive Premier League fixtures.