Arsenal’s January split continued and Shkodran Mustafi’s exit was confirmed on the day of the transfer deadline.
The 28-year-old, who traveled from Valencia in 2016 for a fee of £ 35million, has completed his move to Schalke after a mutual agreement to terminate his contract at the Emirates Stadium.
A statement on Arsenal.com said: “Shkodran Mustafi has moved to Schalke.
“The 28-year-old World Cup winner came to us from Valencia in August 2016 and has been an important part of our backline ever since. During his time at the club, he played 151 games.
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“Shkodran won two Emirates FA Cups, one in his first season in 2016/17 and one in 2019/20. Although unfortunately he missed both finals due to injuries, he played an important role in every cup race that brought us to Wembley.
“The German central defender also played six times and scored one goal in our run to the Europa League final in the 2018/19 season.
“We are also grateful to Shkodran for the role he played off the field.
“His donation of more than 16,000 meals helped vulnerable residents of our Islington District during the height of the coronavirus pandemic and provided them with an important food service they would otherwise not have received.
“Everyone at Arsenal would like to thank Musti for his contribution to the club. We wish him and his family all the best for the future.”
As mentioned above, Mustafi is leaving Arsenal on a free transfer despite the fact that the club cost £ 35m in the summer of 2016.
And since the Gunners took an identical approach to Mesut Ozil and Sokratis to move to Fenerbahce and Olympiacos respectively, it means they left nearly £ 100m free in the January transfer window.
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Of course, Ozil was a club record at £ 42.5m in 2013 while Sokratis cost £ 17.6m to become one of Unai Emery’s first signings in the summer of 2018.
These are signatures worth £ 95.1 million that are allowed to leave for free.
Arteta and Edu will point out that this trio of deals needed to be closed in order for the club to move forward and reduce labor costs, but the Gunners need to improve their player sales.
