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Arsenal plot Shkodran Mustafi exit strategy as Serie A side prepare bid

Shkodran Mustafi

Roma are closing in on the signing of Arsenal defender Shkodran Mustafi, according to Forza Roma.

The Serie A side have lined up a season-long loan deal with an option to buy the centre-back outright for £23m next summer.

Unai Emery is prepared to sanction Mustafi's departure having completed the £8m signing of David Luiz earlier this month.

Roma do not expect the player's wages to be an issue, with his current £2.75m salary in line with their own budgets.

Mustafi has largely struggled since joining Arsenal from Valencia for £35m in 2016.

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Greg Lea

Greg Lea is a freelance football journalist who's filled in wherever FourFourTwo needs him since 2014. He became a Crystal Palace fan after watching a 1-0 loss to Port Vale in 1998, and once got on the scoresheet in a primary school game against Wilfried Zaha's Whitehorse Manor (an own goal in an 8-0 defeat).