Mikel Arteta insists that he has been happy with Shkodran Mustafi's progress at Arsenal, and that his contract situation will remain an internal matter.
football.london understands that Mustafi turned down an offer from Arsenal to extend his contract in North London, and that he intends to leave the club when his current deal expires in the summer.
Mustafi started 15 of Arsenal's 17 games under Arteta before suffering a knee injury that required surgery in July.
However, the centre-back is now fit to play and Arteta insists that Mustafi has put in plenty of effort to get back ready for the Gunners despite the ongoing contract situation.
"Musti's completely fit to play and obviously the internal contract situations are going to be discussed internally," Arteta told reporters.
"I've been really happy with Musti since I joined and the progress that he's made, the performances that he's made.
"It's true that he has a long term injury and he's worked really hard to get back in that position where he is today and I just want him to show again the trust that we have in him and get the performances that we got in the past from him as well.
"I think they were a few cases when we joined in that position.
"What we tried to do was help the players as much as possible, encourage them to ply with confidence, try to give them the right solutions and then it's up to them to show with their performances where they are."
Mustafi has made one appearance this season for the Gunners, coming on as a substitute in the 1-0 defeat against Leicester following an injury to David Luiz.
