Arsenal is finally entering "advanced talks" with La Liga side Valencia over center back Shkodran Mustafi as the English Premier League giants continue to pursue reinforcements for their injury-plagued backfield.
Head coach Arsene Wenger's squad had been missing the services of their three key central defenders with team captain Per Mertesacker and Gabriel Paulista sidelined with separate injuries and French defender Laurent Koscielny still not 100 percent healthy after his national team stint in the recent Euro 2016.
At the moment, the 66-year-old manager only has youngsters Calum Chambers and Rob Holding at the said positions and the team had struggled defensively because of it. Arsenal has a 1-1-1, win-loss-draw record after the first month of English top flight competitions had passed and the team had given up five goals in those three matches, indicating issues on defense.
SkySports reported that the Gunners are "in advanced negotiations" with Els Taronges for Mustafi are and ready to disburse money even when the 24-year-old Germany internationals fee is set to increase to £35 million.
Wenger and the Gunners are notorious for being stingy spenders during transfer windows, which instigates a lot of criticisms from the club's fans and supporters. This time, though, it seems that Arsenal is willing to start investing on talent to continue to be a contender moving forward.
The Gunners have actually chased Mustafi for weeks during this summer's window, which is set to close at the end of the month, but the deal never pushed through because of issues on the German defender's release clause.
Rumors abound that Mustafi had already personally agreed on the transfer to England, but Arsenal and Valencia are still negotiating about the amount of the fee.
Meanwhile, Caught Offside noted that while the Gunners are close to signing their target defender, the team is also keen on pursuing Atletico Madrid superstar striker Antoine Griezmann on or before deadline day.
Aside from a center back, Wenger is rumored to be searching for a top striker that will compensate for the current absences of Olivier Giroud and Danny Welbeck also due to injuries. Chilean forward Alexis Sánchez had been filling-in for the two strikers, but he was forced to stay off of his natural position as winger.