Weeks after Manchester City splurged on Valencia’s Nicolas Otamendi in August, there were tongue in cheek comments emanating from Mestalla that the Premier League club had signed the wrong centre-back. Perhaps, they quipped, they should have signed Shkodran Mustafi instead.
Mustafi struck up an impressive partnership with Otamendi last year and the German defender picked up where he left off at the start of the new campaign. He certainly didn’t seem too down about the departure of his Argentine friend when the first ball of the new season was kicked.
Naturally then, given his form and his nationality, the 23-year-old has emerged as a candidate to fill in for the injured Jerome Boating at Bayern Munich. Boateng, injured in Friday’s win over Hamburg, is set for a three-month spell on the sidelines and Philipp Lahm admitted to Goal on Monday that his absence comes as a huge blow to the Bundesliga leaders.
Bayern’s chief executive Karl-Heinz Rummenigge says there will be no signings in January, though, because “there are no good players on the market.” However, Goal understands the Bavarian club have been following Mustafi for a while and even if they’re not tempted by a move this month, they may be in the summer.They may face competition, too. The defender’s agent has already confirmed interest from Real Madrid and Barcelona. “I’ve had contact with both clubs, but there have not been any more [advanced] talks,” Ali Bulut told Bild last summer. Shkodran has a contract with Valencia, who are a great club.
Since Bulut made those comments, circumstances have changed. Not only has Otamendi left Valencia, but so has Nuno Espirito Santo, replaced as manager by Gary Neville. While this has been going on, the Spanish club have been knocked out of the Champions League and are currently on a 10-game winless run in La Liga.
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