Respected Spanish journalist Guillem Balague has claimed that Valencia "need to sell" Shkodran Mustafi this summer, but Arsenal are not currently meeting Los Che's asking price of £35m.
Mustafi has been strongly linked with a move to the Emirates over the last couple of weeks and it is understood that the German international has already agreed personal terms with the Premier League club.
Balague has claimed that a deal will be completed if the Gunners match Valencia's valuation, but the Spaniard does not believe that the centre-back is "good enough for Arsenal".
"Valencia as a club need to sell. The Valencia coaching staff want to keep Mustafi. Arsenal are not paying what Valencia want which is near €40m. Valencia are also saying they do not want to sell a key player in the last week of the transfer window. Arsenal say they do not want to pay ahead of his real value. So that is where we are," Balague told Sky Sports News.
"By the way, I do not think Mustafi is good enough for Arsenal but there are not many good centre-backs available in the market right now. He would be a slight improvement on their current centre-backs but he is not worth the fee suggested."
Liverpool have also been credited with an interest in the 24-year-old, who was part of the Germany squad that reached the semi-finals of Euro 2016 earlier this summer.
Matt Law
