Publications
Partners
Cape Town - Arsenal are ready to make a bid for Valencia and Germany defender Shkodran Mustafi after Per Mertesacker was ruled out through injury for the rest of the year.
Mertesacker was recently appointed as the Gunners' new captain after the departure of Mikel Arteta, but underwent an operation on Tuesday to repair a knee injury, which has ruled him out until the start of 2017.
With Gabriel Paulista and Laurent Koscielny still on leave, the Gunners' only available centre-backs are Callum Chambers and new signing Rob Holding.
Reports in Spanish publication Cadena Cope claim Valencia have set their asking price at £20.9m, which could prove to be a bargain buy for Wenger, especially after the Frenchman admitted they were in desperate need of defensive reinforcements.
"We have to look for an option to get a bit more experience," Wenger told the club's website. "We will see some of our young centre-backs on Thursday as well.
"With Per being out, we are a bit short on the experience front and we are looking to bring somebody in."
