Serie A giants Inter Milan are weighing up a shock summer swoop for Shkodran Mustafi just two months after the World Cup winner saw his contract ripped up by Arsenal, as reported by Tuttosport.
With the benefit of hindsight, Schalke’s whole ‘get the old band back together’ idea probably wasn’t the best.
Since arriving at the Veltins Arena in January, neither Sead Kolasinac nor the seldom-seen Klaas Jan Huntelaar have been able to arrest the club’s seemingly unstoppable slide into the second tier.
Perhaps the biggest disappointment, however, has been a Germany international who arrived on a free transfer from one of the Premier League’s biggest clubs just a few weeks ago.
Mustafi may have felt like a coup signing at the time but those poor put-upon Schalke supporters didn’t have long to wait to find out why Arsenal were so keen to get their £30 million misfit out the door.
The Gelsenkirchen giants have conceded almost three goals a game on average with Mustafi at centre-back. A horror own goal in the 5-0 drubbing at Wolfsburg felt like a rock bottom moment – not just for the defender but for Schalke’s entire, unrelentingly miserable season.
With his six-month deal due to expire in July, however, reports from Italy suggest the 28-year-old could stumble his way into the San Siro.
Hands up who saw that coming at the Emirates?
Antonio Conte’s Scudetto-chasing Inter Milan side are on the lookout for an experienced, affordable centre-half and the soon-to-be free agent Mustafi has joined Nikola Maksimovic and Aissa Mandi on the Nerazzurri’s hit-list.
If Mustafi does swap relegated Schalke for a newly crowned Inter side, we can only assume his representative will be snatching that ‘Agent Of The Year’ trophy from Jorge Mendes’ mantelpiece at the next FIFA The Best awards.
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