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Barcelona could make a move for Arsenal centre-back Shkodran Mustafi in January, according to a report in Sport. Mustafi signed for Arsenal back in 2016 for a fee in excess of £35 million.
Barcelona have also been monitoring the situation of Manchester City's Eric Garcia but are looking at alternatives including Mustafi's German teammate Antonio Rudiger.
Ronald Koeman, the new Barcelona manager, is admittedly short-staffed at the back, with talismanic central defender Gerard Pique not getting any younger at the age of 33. Barcelona are also looking to offload fringe players such as Samuel Umtiti.
Arsenal defender Shkodran Mustafi could be heading to Barcelona
Shkodran Mustafi was one of Mikel Arteta's mainstays when the Spanish tactician took over the reins of the London club last season. However, the German international has fallen down the pecking order at Arsenal since the arrival of Gabriel Magalhaes.
Magalhaes has hit the ground running in the Premier League and has become the first-choice defender at the Emirates alongside Rob Holding and David Luiz.
Mustafi, on the other hand, has made just four appearances for the Gunners this season, with two of them coming in the Europa League.
The 28-year-old Mustafi, who has under a year left in his contract with the London club, will be able to negotiate a pre-contract with other clubs like Barcelona from January. Arsenal might be tempted to sell the defender in the upcoming transfer window to recoup some of their original investment on the player.
Former youth player Eric Garcia remains the primary target of Barcelona due to his young age and potential. However, it might be difficult to convince Manchester City to sell the youngster in January given that he is considered an important member of the City squad this season.
City’s football operations officer Omar Berrada, while speaking with Manchester Evening News in October, said in this regard:
"Eric has developed into an important player for us and played some important games, especially in the last few months – semi-finals of the FA Cup, quarter-finals of the Champions League. He's become a top young centre-back who Pep trusts, and we feel that keeping him this season was worth more than what we were offered for him (by Barcelona)," said Berrada.
Berrada continued in this regard:
"We believe that he can add depth to the squad and can be important in important games. This is a season that is going to be very difficult for the players, physically and mentally. It's very congested; there will be a lot of pressure to play many games both in terms of club competitions but also the international games that they have to play, so it is all very concentrated and congested."
