It seems as if Skhodran Mustafi could be moving closer to Arsenal after it was revealed that Valencia have opened talks with Manchester City regarding signing a replacement.

With the new season barrelling towards us quicker than you can say ‘Arsenal defensive crisis’ Mustafi has been training away from the rest of his teammates and missing games with an alleged hamstring problem while his club try to sign Mangala.

Of course, we all know better, don’t we, it’s because he’s leaving. Right? Right?

Well, perhaps.

The Ornacle reported that Arsenal have stepped things up after Gabriel’s injury, which does beg the question ‘what the hell were they doing before?’ Worryingly, some are saying that the striker search has been put on hold given our defensive need, which is madness if true given we’ve just over three weeks left in the window.

Our desperation for a centreback does not diminish our desperate need for a striker, surely Arsene knows that and this latest nonsense is, well, nonsense?

It’s hard to tell any more.

As for Mustafi. This is one rumour we’re confident has a lot of truth to it.