SHARE

One of the strangest rumours to come out in recent weeks was that of Arsenal’s Shkodran Mustafi and a move to Barcelona.

The German defender was said to be a low-cost target for Ronald Koeman, who needs defensive reinforcements at the Nou Camp, and meetings had reportedly taken place with his agent.

However, nothing more has come from it for over a week, which has allowed the Italian media to play catchup.

Corriere dello Sport are the ones bringing up the Arsenal defender, explaining that his name as returned to Lazio’s transfer meetings.

Already a target of theirs in the summer, Mustafi would represent a very cheap option seeing as his contract expires in June, but that deal could only be feasible if they manage to offload a player first.

The most likely would be Denis Vavro, whom Genoa are interested in, and without that exit, it would be hard to find room for the experienced centre-back.

Mustafi, who joined Arsenal back in 2016, has found life a bit tougher under Mikel Arteta this season, featuring just nine times across all competitions so far, with most of those coming in the Europa League.