Houssem Aouar and Thomas Partey continue to be linked with moves to Arsenal.
The Gunners, who have signed Willian, Gabriel Magalhaes, Dani Ceballos (on loan), and Alex Runarsson so far this summer, are running out of time to complete more deals with deadline day fast approaching.
In order to sign the aforementioned midfield pair, the north London outfit will have to raise funds by selling one or two first-team players.
And this is where Shkodran Mustafi could play a key role.
The German central defender was a regular in the side under Mikel Arteta during the second half of the 2019/20 season, but saw his campaign curtailed because of a hamstring injury.
With the signing of Gabriel - coupled with William Saliba's return to the club - Mustafi may have dropped down the centre-back pecking order and could be offered a way out.
According to Corriere della Sera - via - Sport Witness, the 28-year-old is a target for Lazio and a deal could be done for between €10m-€12m (£9.1m-£11m), despite the Gunners' €15m (£13.7m) asking price.
In addition, the report states that because Mustafi's contract at the Emirates Stadium expires next summer, a sale for a cut-price fee seems likely.
Amid talk of Mustafi possibly joining Lazio, some Arsenal fans have been getting excited about the prospect of a windfall that could be used to fund deals for Partey and Aouar.
Click here for what was said on Twitter over the weekend.
With that said, as Gunners fans were going crazy over the prospect of this potential transfer, Mustafi put all the speculation to one side and uploaded an interesting video on Instagram.
Whilst Atletico have reportedly rejected two swap deal proposals for Partey, Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas doesn't believe the Gunners will meet the asking price for Aouar.
"No I don't think so," he told Chris Wheatley when asked if he thinks Arsenal will sign Aouar.
"No offer yet, it seems that Arsenal don't want to, or can't invest the price for Houssem, who is our best player."
