According to Catalan newspaper SPORT, Barcelona are interested in raiding Arsenal for defender Shkodran Mustafi in 2021.
It’s claimed that Barca want to sign a ‘low cost’ defender with experience, but only want them for six months from January until the end of the season.
Ronald Koeman has a host of names on his list for that job, and Mustafi is one of them in a rather surprising move.
Past La Liga success
He may not have lived up to his billing with Arsenal, but Mustafi had arguably the best stint of his career over in Spain with Valencia.
Mustafi joined Valencia from Sampdoria in 2014, and spent two strong years with Valencia, scoring six times in 81 games before earning his huge £35m move to Arsenal.
The 28-year-old has shown that he can impress in La Liga, and that may well be why Barca are considering him – despite his struggles in England.
Contract situation
Mustafi is out of contract at the end of the season, and looks likely to leave for free next summer, so it’s unclear how this would fit into Barcelona’s plans.
They may look to sign Mustafi just until the end of the season, putting him in the shop window for a summer move as a free agent, but much will depend on whether Arsenal are willing to let him go.
Barcelona’s recent history in buying from Arsenal isn’t great – Thomas Vermaelen, Alexander Hleb, Alex Song – and seeing Mustafi head to the Camp Nou would be quite bizarre, but he does tick some of Koeman’s boxes as a short-term option.
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