Inter Milan sporting director Piero Ausilio has confirmed they pulled out of a deal for Arsenal defender Shkodran Mustafi after baulking at the transfer fee that the Gunners were demanding for the player.
Despite being owned by a rich Chinese consortium, the Suning Group, the Serie A side have been working within the restrictions of UEFA Financial Fairplay rules, and were not prepared to make a sizeable bid for the German international.
Instead, reports from Italy suggested a loan deal with an obligation buy was offered to Arsenal for the centre back. Once they heard of the Gunners star’s price tag however, they quickly withdrew from negotiations. Ausilio was quoted by the Sun as saying:
“The only negotiations we really entered into for a centre-back was Shkodran Mustafi, but when we saw his club’s demands, we let it go.”
Arsenal were reportedly holding out for the £35m they paid Valencia for the player last summer but it seems Inter’s offer was way short of that figure. Sky Sport Italia reported that a €5m loan fee and a €25m transfer at the end of the season was proposed. A total that would have been £7.5m short of the Gunners’ asking price.
