- 11 hours ago
Shkodran Mustafi dropped from Schalke squad for ‘sporting reasons’
Stefan Bienkowski
- Updated: 23 May 2023 08:40 CDT
- 5 min read
Shkodran Mustafi’s move from Arsenal to Schalke has gone from bad to worse, with the defender losing his spot in the club’s first team due to “sporting reasons”.
Ahead of the Bundesliga’s club’s league clash with Bayer Leverkusen on Saturday, the club website ran through the starting XI and notably omitted the former German World Cup winner from the side.
In the live ticker, Schalke’s website confirmed that new head coach Dimitrios Grammozis had decided to drop the player from his matchday squad because of “sporting reasons.”
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The club website read: “Shkodran Mustafi is not in the squad today for sporting reasons.
“Williams’ non-nomination for the team was a disciplinary decision. Both players have the opportunity to offer themselves again in training in the coming week.”
The news came as something of a surprise considering Mustafi’s inclusion in the Schalke starting XI for six of the club’s last seven league games.
However, it may not be a huge disappointment for fans of the club, who have undoubtedly watched the former Arsenal and Valencia defender struggle since making the move to Germany.
How bad has Mustafi been at Schalke since joining from Arsenal?
Mustafi was brought to Schalke in the January transfer window in an attempt by the German club to inject some much-needed talent and experience into a squad that were sitting bottom of the Bundesliga table.
The German defender joined the club alongside fellow Arsenal talent Sead Kolasinac, as well as 37-year-old striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar from Ajax. However, despite being given plenty of chances, Mustafi has really struggled to adapt to life in the Bundesliga.
According to stats from FootballCritic, Mustafi has had a few strong performances – most notably in 0-0 draws against Union Berlin and Mainz – but has largely underperformed with an average rating of just 4.48 in the rest of his performances for Scalke.
