Arsenal transfer news: Gunners contact Shkodran Mustafi's agent as Arsene Wenger admits need for new striker

Arsenal have started talks over a move for the Valencia defender but are yet to make a formal offer

Shkodran Mustafi is Arsenal's preferred transfer target to help ease their concerns in defence (Getty)

Arsene Wenger revealed he is still in the market for “one more” attacking player after relying on unproven striker Chuba Akpom to edge Arsenal past the MLS All-Stars early on Friday morning, although the club followed up the pre-season victory by launching an attempt to ease their concerns in defence.

The Independent understands that Arsenal officials have moved forward with their interest in Germany defender Shkodran Mustafi by contacting his agent, Ali Bulut, over a possible move. The Gunners are yet to make an official approach to Valencia for the defender, but reports out of Germany on Friday claimed that the La Liga club are willing to part with the centre-back for a lower fee than his £42.1m release clause.

Arsenal’s interest in signing another defender on top of the recent acquisition of Rob Holding from Bolton Wanderers stems from the knee injury that has ruled captain Per Mertesacker out for the next five months, with the World Cup winner unlikely to play again this year.

Holding made his club debut in the 2-1 victory over the MLS All-Stars, where Akpom and Costa Rica striker Joel Campbell found the back of the net. With Olivier Giroud unlikely to feature in Arsenal’s opening Premier League game of the season against Liverpool in two weeks’ time and Danny Welbeck ruled out until February, Wenger is keen on signing another striker, especially given Theo Walcott’s alarming slump in form that continued with a poor display in San Jose.

Wenger has already seen bids for Jamie Vardy, Gonzalo Higuain and Alexandre Lacazette fail this summer. Vardy elected to reject a move to Arsenal by signing a new four-year contract with the reigning Premier League champions Leicester City, while Napoli eventually sold Higuain to Juventus for £75m after Arsenal refused to meet his release clause. Interest in Lyon’s Lacazette remains, although Arsenal’s opening offer of £29.2m fell desperately short of the Ligue 1 club’s valuation and Arsenal are unlikely to offer more than £34m in a second attempt to sign him.

Despite the apparent scatter-gun approach to reinforcing his attack, Wenger admitted that he will persist with trying to sign one more player to assist Giroud, given the risk in relying on Akpom who has just four Premier League appearances to his name.

"At the moment I have not too many attacking options in terms of experienced players," Wenger said following the victory at the Avaya Stadium. "But let's not forget we still have a few players at home.

"There are also a few players who did not play [against the MLS All-Stars], like [Santi] Cazorla and of course [Mesut] Özil and [Aaron] Ramsey are at home. Giroud is also not here.

"So we have options but we will still look outside to find one more."

Arsenal could yet make a second offer for Lacazette (Getty)

Arsenal could yet find themselves in close contact with Juventus despite seeing the Italian champions snatch Higuain away from them after Mario Mandzukic’s position in Turin was placed in doubt. The Argentine’s arrival, currently the third highest transfer ever behind Gareth Bale’s and Cristiano Ronaldo’s moves to Real Madrid with Paul Pogba’s transfer to Manchester United pending, means Mandzukic faces a decision over his future, and reports in Italy claim that Juventus will be willing to sell the Croatia international providing their asking price is met.