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.

However, the 27-year-old had an excellent two-season spell in Serie A with Sampdoria earlier in his career, and is thought to welcome the chance to return to Italy.

READ MORE...

How Johan Cruyff’s legacy could form the model for the new top-heavy Arsenal

Andy Mitten column: How it works inside Manchester United's post-match mixed zone

Jurgen Klopp took a massive gamble in the transfer window – here’s why

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).