Well, this is interesting, maybe not the best news for Arsenal fans, but it’s interesting.
After weeks of reported Arsenal interest, a brief mention of Chelsea lurking, and then more Arsenal interest, Cadena SER in Spain are reporting Valencia are in fact in talks with another Premier League club regarding the transfer of Shkodran Mustafi.
According to the Valencia branch of the Spanish radio station on their Twitter feed, the La Liga club’s director of football, Jesús García Pitarch, is currently in negotiations with Jürgen Klopp’s side over the German international’s future.
NOTICIA SER. Pitarch negocia con el @LFC Liverpool el traspaso de Mustafi y hay interés del @valenciacf en incluir al delantero Luis Alberto
— SER Deportivos Valen (@SERDepValencia) August 17, 2016
This news is quite surprising, considering Liverpool have already brought in two centre-backs this summer in Joel Matip and Ragnar Klavan, but Cadena SER explain there’s even more to this.
Valencia would also like to include Liverpool’s 23-year-old forward Luis Alberto in the deal, which might be giving the Merseyside club the upper hand over Arsène Wenger.
This is also the first report from a Valencia outlet claiming talks regarding the German centre-back since Plaza Deportiva reported Peter Lim was on a flight to England to chat with Arsenal’s manager, which appears to have been anything but fruitful.
We’ll have to see how this pans out, but it’s an interesting turn of events if true.
UPDATE: Cadena Ser now have an article on their website where they go into further detail.
According to the radio station, Valencia want €30m for their centre-back, while Liverpool value Luis Alberto at €6m.
Just to make matters more complicated, the Merseyside club aren’t prepared to pay that much for Mustafi and Valencia don’t agree with the valuation of Luis Alberto, who only has a year left on his contract.
The clubs are currently trying to find a happy medium to get a deal done, but SER make it clear Valencia aren’t the only ones interested in Alberto, as Sevilla, Benfica and Fiorentina are also keeping an eye on the Spaniard.
