Arsenal defender Shkodran Mustafi is dreaming of a return to Germany amid interest from Eintracht Frankfurt, with his father suggesting that an exit is inevitable, as reported by Sport1.
Strangely enough, a man who won the World Cup under Joachim Low in 2014 has never played a single game in the Bundesliga.
Mustafi was a teenager when he left Hamburg for Everton all the way back in 2009 but, 11 years later and after spells at Sampdoria, Valencia and Arsenal, the 20-capped international has his heart set on a return to where it all began.
The £30 million man will become a free agent in the summer and, having fallen behind the likes of Gabriel Magalhaes, Rob Holding and David Luiz in Mikel Arteta’s pecking order, it seems unlikely that he will be offered a contract extension.
Mustafi has not made a single Premier League start all season, playing just 82 minutes in the competition.
Then again, his £90,000-a-week wages represent a sizeable stumbling block for clubs willing to offer the long-serving Gunners servant a fresh start away from the Emirates.
As Sport 1 point out, Mustafi’s near £5 million-a-year pay packet exceeds that of Frankfurt’s best-paid player – former PSG goalkeeper Kevin Trapp.
Frankfurt do have one of the most impressive sporting directors around in the shape of Fredi Bobic and, if anyone can convince Mustafi to take a financial hit in order to rebuild his career at the Commerzbank Arena, it’s him.
“Nothing is wrong, we can imagine everything because Shkodran is free of transfer in the summer,” Mustafi’s father Kujtim told Sport1.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
