I had a look through the Mustafi transfer thread from the start, where we were all seemingly taken in by the transfer fee and the idea that a German defender with La Liga/Serie A experience must be half decent. I personally couldn’t wait for the signing, despite having watched no more than a few televised games of him alongside Abdennour. You were the first person to call this guy out as a fraud
He put in some competent performances for Valencia and had just won the World Cup with Germany. Plus we were so desperate for a defender in that 22-28 age bracket to come in that summer. Signing him, Xhaka and Perez appeared like Arsene’s last roll of the dice. It obviously backfired.
What the fuck were people in the club thinking when that deal was going down Jesus. £17m down the drain…Leaves a sick feeling looking back at how poorly we strategised and invested
Did you say that 75 million was a stupid amount for VVD 12 months ago also ?
In regards to Mustafi at the time I was happy as we were actually spending money on a CB, admittedly I hadn’t actually seen him play a huge amount. Obviously neither had our recruitment or scouting team.
It’s a big risk to spend for a defender, but so far looks like it may have paid off or at least worked out well. I guess question is if they could have spent that more effectively, which is an interesting thought exercise
Personally I don’t think they could have, without VVD they’ve probably conceded at least double the goals they have this season and are probably on par with Man City points wise.
I think the choice to go all out and get him will be the reason they win the league, instead of falling short to Manchester City.
Right here with you brother. Xhaka was going to be the quarterback we needed, have him sit in midfield and launch passes to runners. It hasn’t quite worked out like that though.
I’m not 100% sure but I recall that Wenger said he hadn’t really watched Xhaka play before signing him. I wonder if it was the same with Mustafi.