Former Arsenal chief executive Ivan Gazidis could be about to do one more good deed in north London as AC Milan find themselves linked with a surprise swoop for Shkodran Mustafi.
Arsenal are desperate to offload the struggling German, who has continually struggled since his £35million move from Valencia in the summer of 2016. Getting back anywhere near what they paid for him would be a tough ask indeed for the Gunners, such have been the difficulties Mustafi has endured, but they are likely to sanction his exit regardless.
Indeed the club may settle for half of what they paid for Mustafi just to move him on.
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football.london understands that Mustafi was made available for transfer last season but that Arsenal failed to find any suitable bidders for the 27-year-old, who is believed to earn around £90,000-a-week.
Indeed the Gunners have not received a serious offer for Mustafi since Inter Milan tried to acquire the World Cup winner in the final hours of the summer 2017 transfer window, which fell apart because the Italians wanted a loan deal whilst Arsenal preferred a permanent sale.
Reports in Italy suggest that Mustafi could still be bound for Italy, with Inter's crosstown rivals AC Milan, headed up by Gazidis. said to be mulling a bid for the German.
Gazidis is understood to have played a more significant role than usual in the signing of Mustafi in the first place, a player over whom Arsene Wenger and his scouting team had doubts before he arrived from Valencia.
Those were subsequently vindicated and, after a bright start to his career at Arsenal, Mustafi has become emblematic of the defensive frailty that has haunted the club under both Wenger and Unai Emery.
Mustafi has made three errors directly leading to goals in his Arsenal career and this season has conceded penalties against Crystal Palace and Tottenham.
Emery has insisted he can tame Mustafi's wild side but admitted following a 3-2 defeat to Crystal Palace in which the centre-back had been at fault for two goals that there were aspects of his game that needed improvement.
"I want him to not do the tackle on the ground every time.
"You have to be clever in your mind about what is the moment to go [to ground] and what is not the moment, but that is part of the process."
However Emery is unlikely to stand in the way of any move, particularly as offloading centre-backs would be a prerequisite to bringing in players in that position.
Arsenal currently have seven central defensive options under contract next season but Emery is keen to make an addition of his own to the position and has scouted Djene Dakonam of Getafe.
With a transfer budget of less than £50m if Arsenal fail to qualify for the Champions League Emery will need to sell if he wants to make major buys. Gazidis and Milan's interest in Mustafi looks like being welcome indeed.
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