Shkodran Mustafi admitted last week he needs to make the most of the final matches of the season to get into the Germany World Cup squad, but unfortunately he’s way off his best right now.

Last year it seemed pretty likely Mustafi would easily make the Germany squad. He was a regular in their successful Confederations Cup run, including playing against Chile in the final. Then he featured in their final World Cup qualification match, but fell injured after 36 minutes.

Since then, he hasn’t played a single minute for his country, and didn’t make the squad for their most recent friendlies against Spain and Brazil.

When asked about the situation ahead of Arsenal’s match against CSKA Moscow, the 25-year-old said he planned to win back his place with his club performances.

“I am going to use the games we have in the Premier League and Europa League to get my place,” he insisted. “All I can do is do my work on the pitch and we will see at the end if I am going to be nominated or not.”

Since then, he’s been at fault for two goals against Arsenal. First, he failed to react in time to clear a rebound against CSKA Moscow. Then he showed little awareness of his surroundings against Newcastle as Ayoze Perez stole in ahead of him to score.

Germany, as always, will go to the tournament this summer expecting to win it all. They won’t take risks on players who are under-performing at the sixth placed club in England.

If Mustafi wants to go to the World Cup, he needs to step up in a big way. The Europa League semi-final against Atletico Madrid could make or break his chances.