With the long-term summer injury sustained by club captain Per Mertesacker there was much talk that Arsenal desperately needed to sign more central defensive help as the German was due to be out until at least Christmas. Arsene Wenger made a move on July 22nd 2016 and purchased Rob Holding for an undisclosed fee from Bolton Wanderers where he was their player of the year. When Gabriel Paulista was injured in the early season Wenger was forced to use the youngster Holding to partner Laurent Koscielny in the 2016-17 season opening game against Liverpool, which Arsenal went on to lose 3–4.
With the fans screaming for a central defensive signing rumours persisted that German World Cup winner Shkodran Mustafi was set to join Arsenal from Valencia but as the end of the transfer window approached the deal seemed on one day but off the next. Fortunately for the Gunners, they got the deal over the line on deadline day. There was almost catastrophic news for Arsenal just after the signing as Mustafi sustained an injury scare while representing his national German side only hours after signing his contract with Arsenal. The £35million centre-back seemed to strain something while running during Germany’s game with Finland but the Gunners would have been most relieved when the defender returned to play out the game with no ill effects.
As the Express reported the new Arsenal star really has not encountered many issues in his almost seamless adjustment to playing in the Premier League. The 24-year-old has since formed arguably the best central defensive partnership in the league alongside Laurent Koscielny for the Gunners. The possible reason for this is that Mustafi spent 3 years with Everton during his younger days and although he never made a first team appearance for Everton he clearly was absorbing everything that goes into preparing to play in the Premier League and it seems to have made the difference as he appears so at home in the British game.
Speaking about his move to Arsenal recently the German international had this to say,
“In every country you play a different style of football,” Mustafi told Stadium Astro.
“Sometimes if it’s really tactical, like it is in Spain, it seems like it slows down the tempo but it’s not really the case.
“Obviously it’s a different kind of football here but I think you need one or two games to get back into English football again.
“It’s nothing that I didn’t already know because I played a few years here. I know how it works and what kind of football people like.
“So yes, it wasn’t that difficult.”
So the Gunners look to have pulled off one of their best ever signings as we feel Shkodran Mustafi is truly a world class player and his partnership with Koscielny is rock solid. Hopefully for Gooners this duo are part of a title winning group.