Arsenal’s new defender, Shkondran Mustafi, has explained why his transfer from Valencia to Arsenal took the time it did.

It was on one minute, off the next. At one point, Arsenal fans were sure we were signing the German international but in the next breath some ‘source’ was claiming it was off. It doesn’t help when one of these sources is Valencia’s manager.

However, it’s done now and Mustafi has explained why him, his people and the Gunners took so long coming to the right decision.

“Yeah, I noticed [the Arsenal fans on social media],” he said to Arsenal.com.

“I saw a lot of pictures going around on Twitter, on Instagram and on Facebook. Some of them made me laugh as well. I know that for people who watch football and live football, waiting for new signings isn’t easy sometimes. All the signings know there are a lot of things going on in the transfer, so you have to make sure you do everything good to have a good start. That’s what we did. We tried to take our time, do everything the best way you can do it and then start this episode here correctly.”

Indeed, there are a lot of factors that go into signing a new player. Although the signing of Deportivo striker, Lucas Perez, went comparatively fast, the player himself even admitted that Arsenal initially made contact when the window opened.

Valencia didn’t appear to be accepting a penny less than what they deemed a suitable price, which is fair enough, if a little frustrating when you’re a fan watching from outside the bubble.

What matters is that it’s done now.