Quote Originally Posted by Niall_Quinn View Post
7mill though. How the hell can that have any serious bearing on a club the size of Arsenal? Just pay it. Get the player in. Sell Mustafi, or let him go on a free. £7mill will be the least of our worries if we have to go with Mustafi for the remainder of the season.
All true, and of course it won't have any bearing on us whatsoever. But it doesn't matter - if the PL rules say that clubs can only add X amount to their annual expenses each season relative to their commercial income, and if we've already maxed out our limit for this year, then our hands might be tied? (*That's just a guess, but it would explain why we're trying to structure any and every potential deal as an initial loan with an option to buy later / in the next accounting period.)

Would love to sell Mustafi, but that's easier said than done, as we found out last summer. I'm not even sure we can give him away at this point? If he's decided to sit on his fat Arsenal contract and would rather rot than go elsewhere for less money but more games then there's not really much we can do about it. Feels short-sighted to me, but he's legally well within his rights to do it...