Germany manager Joachim Loew has conceded Shkodran Mustafi faces a long spell on the sidelines after suffering a suspected thigh injury during the international break.
The Arsenal centre-back had to be helped off the pitch just 35 minutes into Germany’s 5-1 win over Azerbaijan on Sunday after pulling up with no opponent near him.
Mustafi, who was heavily linked with a move away from Arsenal over the summer, had made a strong start to the new campaign and his absence will be a blow for Arsene Wenger’s side.
“With Mustafi it seems that it is some muscle tear or some muscle fibre tear,” the London Evening Standard quote Germany head coach Joachim Loew as saying after the match. “In any case it could force him to a longer break.”
Arsenal will want to conduct their own examination of Mustafi before putting a timeframe on his potential return, but a long spell on the sidelines beckons if a muscle tear is confirmed.
Since the start of last season, Arsenal have marginally won a greater proportion of their Premier League matches with Mustafi in the starting XI (61.3%) compared to when he has not been selected from the off (57.1%).
