Valencia manager says Mustafi not for sale

Arsenal target Shkodran Mustafi is staying in Spain, at least if we are to believe his current manager. According to beIN Sports USA journalist David Cartlidge, Valencia CF boss Pako Ayestarán has said that Mustafi is staying put:

In a transfer saga that is taking on the will-he-won’t-he proportions of such past summer jams as the Yann M’Vila transfer and the Gonzalo Higuain mess, the 24-year old German has been the object of rising fees, stories of pending medicals that led nowhere, rampant speculation, and the burden of saving a beleaguered and aging defensive corps. Cartlidge is a reliable La Liga source, so this tweet is disconcerting for those who would like the very good Mustafi to join Arsenal, but there is also the possibility that Valencia are leveraging everything they have to extract the maximum fee from the Premier League’s television-rich clubs.

We will, as always, continue to keep everyone posted as this story develops (hopefully in a positive direction!), but for now, things are looking a little more gray.