Shkodran Mustafi has left Arsenal for Schalke while Ainsley Maitland-Niles and Joe Willock have both joined Premier League clubs on loan, completing a significant reconfiguring of Mikel Arteta’s squad over the winter transfer window.
Maitland-Niles will spend the rest of the season at West Bromwich Albion after stalling over a move to Southampton and Willock has signed a temporary deal at Newcastle.
Both players aim to show Arteta they have a place in his long-term plans but the picture was always going to be different for Mustafi, whose contract was up at the end of the season with little prospect of renewal.
In the end Mustafi’s deal was terminated early, allowing a move to the Bundesliga’s bottom club on a six-month deal. He will replace the new Liverpool signing Ozan Kabak and joins Sead Kolasinac, who signed for Schalke on loan from Arsenal in January.
Mustafi made over 150 appearances for Arsenal since joining from Valencia in 2016 but the centre-back’s form fluctuated and he endured a rocky relationship with the home fans. A revival in fortunes saw him feature heavily for Arteta in the second half of last season but a hamstring injury sustained in the FA Cup semi-final led to three months out and he has featured only nine times in 2020-21.
For Maitland-Niles, a move to the Hawthorns presents a chance to play regularly and earn a place in Gareth Southgate’s Euro 2020 squad. He has not nailed down a consistent starting place, or position, under Arteta but has been trusted to do specific jobs in big games, excelling at left wing-back in the FA Cup semi-final and final.
The 23-year-old will now hope to secure a spot in his favoured midfield position for Sam Allardyce’s relegation battlers. Arteta said the move was “to support Ainsley and his growth further”.
Southampton, who were among several other interested clubs, had withdrawn their interest earlier in the day after becoming frustrated by indecision on the part of Maitland-Niles.
Willock will hope a spell at Newcastle ignites his own career. His energy and movement in midfield, as well as his ability to appear in goalscoring positions, ensured he was a fixture in Arsenal’s first-team squad last season but he has made only two Premier League starts this time around.
Three goals in the Europa League group stage served notice of his ability but, at 21, he needs a run of games at the top level. Neither his loan move nor that of Maitland Niles have been made with permanent deals in mind.
Arteta has now moved seven players on since the turn of the year, easing his concerns about a squad whose size he had called “unmanageable”. William Saliba signed for Nice on loan while the club terminated Sokratis Papastathopoulos’ contract so he could join Olympiakos.
The most high-profile departure was that of Mesut Özil, who signed for Fenerbahce after an agreement was reached to end his Arsenal spell.
Martin Ødegaard and Mat Ryan were the January additions to a streamlined group that contains several fitness doubts for Tuesday’s trip to Wolves.
Kieran Tierney is not ready to return from a lower leg injury while Bukayo Saka and Pablo Marí will be assessed. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang trained on Monday after missing three games following his mother becoming ill.
Leave a Reply