Arsenal prepare £20m bid: Arsene Wenger to sign international star before Liverpool opener

ARSENAL are ready to table a £20m offer for Valencia centre-back Shkodran Mustafi, reports claim.

By Jamie Anderson                    

According to Goal, Arsene Wenger would like to sign an experienced defender before their opening Premier League fixture against Liverpool on August 14.
The Gunners will be without captain Per Mertesacker after the German star suffered a serious knee injury.
They have also granted Laurent Koscielny an extended break following his Euro 2016 exploits, while Gabriel is still recovering from tonsillitis.

Wenger, 66, could be forced to start with a centre-half pairing of Calum Chambers and new signing Rob Holding against Jurgen Klopp's outfit at the Emirates.

Mustafi, 24, was part of Germany's 2014 World Cup winning team and played a prominent role at Euro 2016 - netting the opener against Ukraine.
Arsenal saw their initial £15m bid rejected but are poised to submit an increased £20m deal over the coming days.

WANTED: Valencia star Shkodran Mustafi

Wenger is keeping his cards close to his chest after insisting he's not finalised any new additions - yet.
He said: "We have not closed any deal with anybody at the moment. That’s the answer.
"You speak about Mustafi. Is it Mustafi or anybody else - we haven’t concluded anything at the moment."