The German defender was told he could leave the Emirates this summer, but decided to stay at Arsenal. Unai Emery insists that he respects his decision to stay and says that he still has a future for the Gunners.
Mustafi was struggling for minutes at the Emirates and had offers from various clubs but he chose to stay. He was widely expected to leave, with Emery publicly stating that a move away from Emirates would be the best for the German.
Emery says Mustafi has been given a new start and is training well. Mustafi has not played a single game this season and is most likely to not be involved this weekend when Arsenal visit Watford.
“Mustafi decided to be here and when he did, for me, he is another player like the others in the team,” the Spanish manager said.
“Of course I respect his decision and, when he decided, I spoke with him and said ‘for me you are in the squad and I am going to work with you as with the other players’.
“I don’t know all exactly what was in his decision (to stay) but, when we spoke and he decided to be here, it was a start with him as another player in the squad.
“He is working every day with a big motivation and good experience. That is what we want, training with good experience, helping and, after, giving us his performance.”
