Mikel Arteta provides fresh injury update on Shkodran Mustafi: report

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has provided an injury update on Shkodran Mustafi following the club’s elimination from the Europa League at the round of 32 stage.

The Gunners had the away-goal advantage against Olympiacos after the 1-1 draw in the first leg but they failed to take their chances at the Emirates Stadium as they succumbed to a 2-1 loss after added extra-time.

That meant that Arteta’s side bowed out of the Europa League on away goals after a 2-2 aggregate score and their quest for Champions League football is now entirely dependent on a top-four or top-five finish in the Premier League based on the outcome of Manchester City’s appeal for their two-year European competition ban.

During Thursday’s game, Shkodran Mustafi was once again the standout performer in the Gunners defence and he came up with a number of key challenges including a late-ditch tackle to deny Olympiakos from scoring in the dying seconds of normal time.

Unfortunately, the German could not last the entire game as he picked up an injury which forced him to be substituted in the 103rd minute. Without him on the playing field, the Gunners went on to concede the costly away goal which eliminated them from the competition.

Speaking after the game, Arteta was asked for an injury update on Mustafi and he happened to suggest that he has no idea over the exact nature of the problem, he told: “I don’t know [how bad it is]. He said to me ‘I cannot play anymore’. I’m not sure if it was a cramp or a muscle injury.”