Arsenal offered Shkodran Mustafi a new contract over the summer, but he turned it down and told the club he plans to leave next year.

Football.London claim Arsenal made Shkodran Mustafi the offer of a new contract over the summer, but the defender responded by informing them he plans to leave at the end of the season.

Mustafi currently has a deal lasting until the summer of 2021, so he can discuss a pre-contract agreement with foreign clubs from January. Alternatively, he can wait for the summer and sign with whichever club he wants.

It’s hard to understand Arsenal’s decision to offer the player a deal in the first place. Though he showed some improvement under Mikel Arteta, he still made fairly regular errors in big moments, as he always has with Arsenal.

The club have plenty of centre-backs, and they really need to reduce their numbers rather than maintaining them. If they can’t find buyers, running down contracts is the easiest way to do that and free up wage space.

The only explanation I can come up with is that Arsenal were hoping to retain some kind of market value for Mustafi before selling next summer, when the financial situation around Europe should be better.

But that’s a high-risk strategy when it could leave the club stuck with him after a poor season, which is just as likely with the way he’s played in North London overall.

Regardless, Mustafi has done Arsenal’s job for them and made the decision to cut ties. Let’s hope he can have an unexpectedly positive final season before he leaves.