Shkodran Mustafi (; born 17 April 1992) is a German professional footballer who plays as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

for

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commercially known as LaLiga SmartBank for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spanish football league system. Administrated by the Lig ...

club Levante. Mustafi began his career in the youth ranks of Hamburger SV and English club Everton, where he made one substitute appearance for them before leaving to

Sampdoria Unione Calcio Sampdoria, commonly referred to as Sampdoria (), is an Italian professional football club based in Genoa. The club was formed in 1946 from the merger of two existing sports clubs whose roots can be traced back to the 1890s ...

in January 2012. He signed a five-year deal at Valencia in August 2014, and moved to

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

for a reported £35 million two years later. He played 151 games for Arsenal. He later returned to the Bundesliga with Schalke 04 and La Liga with Levante. Mustafi made his full international debut against Poland on 13 May 2014, and was part of the German teams that won the

2014 FIFA World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July 2014, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...

and the

2017 FIFA Confederations Cup The 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup was the 10th and final edition of the FIFA Confederations Cup, a quadrennial international men's football tournament organised by FIFA. It was held in Russia, from 17 June to 2 July 2017, as a prelude to the 20 ...

, also competing at UEFA Euro 2016.

Club career

Early career

Mustafi was born in Bad Hersfeld, Hesse, to a

Macedonian Albanian The Albanians in North Macedonia ( sq, Shqiptarët në Maqedoninë e Veriut, mk, Албанци во Северна Македонија) are the second largest ethnic group in North Macedonia, forming 446,245 individuals or 24.3% of the resid ...

family originally from Gostivar in the former Yugoslavia. Mustafi started his career in the youth system of local 1. FC Bebra, and had a stint with SV Rotenburg, before joining Hamburger SV's youth setup in 2006.

Everton

In May 2009, Mustafi joined Everton, initially assigned to the academy team. He later stated that " Goodison Park feels like home", after turning down offers from

Manchester City Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...

and

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...

. Mustafi made his competitive debut on 16 December 2009, replacing Tony Hibbert in the 75th minute of a 0–1 home loss against

BATE Borisov FC BATE Borisov (russian: link=no, ФК БАТЭ Борисов, ''FK BATE Borisov'' ; be, ФК БАТЭ Барысаў, ''BATE Barysaw,'' ) is a professional Belarusian football team from the city of Barysaw. The club competes in the Belarusi ...

, for the season's UEFA Europa League. He was also named on the bench for the Premier League matches against

and Manchester City in January. Mustafi only appeared on the bench nine times in the following two campaigns, but never played in any further matches.

Sampdoria

In January 2012, Mustafi moved to Italian Serie B side

, on a free transfer. Mustafi was released by Everton after he asked manager David Moyes to allow him to move on for more game time. Mustafi made his ''Samp'' debut on 26 May 2012, starting and playing the full 90 minutes of a 1–3 loss at Varese. It was his maiden appearance in the competition, as Sampdoria returned to Serie A at first attempt. He made his debut in the Italian top flight on 11 November 2012, starting in a 0–2 loss at

Palermo Palermo ( , ; scn, Palermu , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan ...

. On 26 October of the following year he scored his first professional goal, netting the game's only against Atalanta at the

Stadio Luigi Ferraris The Stadio comunale Luigi Ferraris, also known as the Marassi from the name of the neighbourhood where it is located, is a multi-use stadium in Genoa, Italy. The home of Genoa C.F.C. and U.C. Sampdoria football clubs, it opened in 1911 and is ...

Valencia

On 7 August 2014, Mustafi signed a five-year deal with La Liga's Valencia CF, for an undisclosed fee, rumoured to be €8 million. He debuted for his new team on 25 September, against Córdoba in an eventual 3–0 home win. A month later, he scored his first goal for the team, opening a 3–1 home win over Elche. In Valencia's next match on 2 November, against another regional rival, Villarreal, Mustafi scored a brace in a 3–1 away win to put Valencia into second place in the league. On 3 March 2016, Mustafi received a straight red card in the first half of Valencia's 7–0 loss at Barcelona in the first leg of the Copa del Rey semi-final, after conceding a penalty with a foul on Lionel Messi. He then pleaded for the team's forgiveness by the ''Che'' supporters.

Arsenal

On 30 August 2016, Mustafi joined English club

for an undisclosed fee, reported to be in excess of £35 million. He made his debut in Arsenal's 2–1 Premier League win over Southampton at the

Emirates Stadium The Emirates Stadium (known as Arsenal Stadium for UEFA competitions) is a football stadium in Holloway, London, England. It has been the home stadium of Arsenal Football Club since its completion in 2006. It has a current seated capacity ...

on 10 September. Mustafi beat Bacary Sagna's record unbeaten start of 17 games at the club in Arsenal's 3–3 draw against

Bournemouth Bournemouth () is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council area of Dorset, England. At the 2011 census, the town had a population of 183,491, making it the largest town in Dorset. It is situated on the Southern ...

with his 18th game without defeat. On 22 January 2017, he scored his first goal for the club in a home 2–1 league win over Burnley. Because of illness, he missed Arsenal's 2–1 win over Chelsea in the

2017 FA Cup Final The 2017 FA Cup Final was an association football match between London rivals Arsenal and Chelsea on 27 May 2017 at Wembley Stadium in London, England. It was the 136th FA Cup final overall of English football's primary cup competition, the Foot ...

on 27 May. Mustafi was in the starting 11 against

in the

EFL Cup The EFL Cup (referred to historically, and colloquially, as the League Cup), currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition and major trophy in men's domestic football in England. Organised by the ...

final on 25 February 2018. He made a mistake in the 18th minute that allowed Sergio Agüero to score the first goal of a 3–0 City win. On 29 May 2019, he was an unused substitute in the Europa League final against Chelsea, in which Arsenal were defeated 4–1. He missed the

2020 FA Cup Final The 2020 FA Cup Final, known officially as the Heads Up FA Cup Final, was an association football match played behind closed doors between Arsenal and Chelsea at Wembley Stadium in London, England on 1 August 2020; it was originally scheduled ...

against the same team due to a hamstring injury, and Arsenal won 2–1. On 29 August 2020, Mustafi missed Arsenal's victory over Liverpool in the

2020 FA Community Shield The 2020 FA Community Shield (also known as The FA Community Shield supported by McDonald's for sponsorship reasons) was the 98th FA Community Shield, an annual football match played between the winners of the previous season's Premier League, L ...

because of injury. The following 1 February, Arsenal and Mustafi reached a mutual agreement to terminate his contract. During his tenure at Arsenal, he developed a reputation for errors.

Schalke 04

On 1 February 2021, Mustafi joined German side Schalke 04 on a permanent transfer. He was reportedly signed as the replacement for Liverpool-bound

Ozan Kabak Ozan Muhammed Kabak (born 25 March 2000) is a Turkish professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Bundesliga club 1899 Hoffenheim and the Turkey national team. Club career Galatasaray Ozan trained with the Galatasaray youth academy, ...

on a six-month contract. He made his debut five days later in a 0–3 defeat against RB Leipzig in the Bundesliga. He played 13 games for the team from

Gelsenkirchen Gelsenkirchen (, , ; wep, Gelsenkiärken) is the 25th most populous city of Germany and the 11th most populous in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia with 262,528 (2016) inhabitants. On the Emscher River (a tributary of the Rhine), it lies ...

, scoring in a 4–2 loss at Hoffenheim on 8 May.

Levante

On 2 September 2021, Mustafi returned to the city of Valencia, joining La Liga club Levante on a two-year deal. He suffered from several injuries and made only 11 appearances as the team suffered relegation; this included three months with a knee injury from December to March 2022, followed by a quadriceps strain between April and July. His one goal was the early opener in a 3–1 loss at Real Betis on 28 November 2021.

International career

Eligible to represent Germany, North Macedonia and Albania, Mustafi played for his country of birth at youth level; with the under-17 team he won the

2009 UEFA European Under-17 Championship The 2009 UEFA European Under-17 Championship was the eighth edition of UEFA's European Under-17 Football Championship since it was renamed from the original under-16 event, in 2001. Germany hosted the championship, during 6 to 18 May 2009, in thir ...

. Joachim Löw called up Mustafi to the German national squad for a friendly match against Chile in February 2014, he made his full international debut in a friendly match against Poland, playing the full 90 minutes of a goalless draw at the Volksparkstadion on 13 May 2014. Mustafi was selected in Germany's 30-man provisional squad before the

by Löw. After initially not making the squad for the finals, he was subsequently nominated as the replacement for the injured Marco Reus. He appeared as a substitute in Germany's opening World Cup game against Portugal, coming on in the 73rd minute in place of Mats Hummels to win his second cap. In the team's second match, he again came on as a substitute, replacing Jérôme Boateng at half time against Ghana. He was selected to start at right-back in Germany's round of 16 match against Algeria, but was substituted in the 70th minute for Sami Khedira due to an injury in his left thigh. It was later confirmed by the DFB that Mustafi would take no further part in the World Cup due to the torn fibre muscle. Mustafi was also called up for UEFA Euro 2016. In Germany's opening match against Ukraine in Lille, he headed a delivery from Toni Kroos to open a 2–0 win. That was his first goal for Germany. He was also part of their squad that won the

in Russia, but was omitted from the following year's World Cup in the same country due to a poor season with Arsenal.

Personal life

Mustafi is a practising

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

. In July 2016, he married Albanian model Vjosa Kaba in Gostivar. The couple has a daughter, Noemi (born in July 2017), and a son, Amar (born in January 2019).

Career statistics

Club

International

:''As of match played 8 October 2017. Germany score listed first, score column indicates score after each Mustafi goal.''

Honours

Arsenal * FA Cup: 2016–17, 2019–20 *

runner-up: 2017–18 * UEFA Europa League runner-up: 2018–19 Germany U17 * UEFA European Under-17 Championship:

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

Germany * FIFA World Cup:

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

FIFA Confederations Cup The FIFA Confederations Cup was an international association football tournament for men's national teams, held every four years by FIFA. It was contested by the holders of each of the six continental championships ( AFC, CAF, CONCACAF, CONMEBOL, ...

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

References

External links

Profile
at the Arsenal F.C. website * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mustafi, Shkodran 1992 births Living people People from Bad Hersfeld Sportspeople from Kassel (region) Footballers from Hesse German footballers Germany youth international footballers Germany under-21 international footballers Germany international footballers Association football defenders Everton F.C. players U.C. Sampdoria players Valencia CF players Arsenal F.C. players FC Schalke 04 players Levante UD footballers Serie B players Serie A players La Liga players Premier League players Bundesliga players 2014 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 2016 players 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup players FIFA World Cup-winning players FIFA Confederations Cup-winning players German expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in England Expatriate footballers in Italy Expatriate footballers in Spain German expatriate sportspeople in England German expatriate sportspeople in Italy German expatriate sportspeople in Spain German people of Albanian descent German people of Macedonian descent German Muslims Albanians in North Macedonia People from Gostivar