For any athlete, the thought of retiring would normally come up only if they are in the waning years of their career. In the case of 27-year-old Shkodran Mustafi, he admits getting close to doing that after almost losing faith in his abilities. Thankfully, his fortunes have taken a positive turn.
Mustafi is back to form for the Gunners since Mikel Arteta took over as manager. The fact that Arsenal had a change at the helm may have added on the German center back from doubting his capabilities. He has had his share of criticism, all part of his career as a professional football player. It appears he has gotten over that hump, realizing that it is all part of the process according to a report from the Evening Standard.
“You always get your chances, you always get the possibilities to go again and go again and when you start thinking like you said, I think it’s when you retire from football,” Mustafi said. “It’s not the way a professional should think.”
Mustafi admits that realizing how a professional should journey through a sport is important. It appears he needed to do some soul-searching, and everything just fell into place from there. Now recalling his old form, Mustafi knows that there is work to be done, and now he is ready to perform whenever his coach and teammates need him.
Related to his job is dealing with criticism. No athlete has been spared from such, and the best way to silence critics is to do so through his performance on the football field.
However, he recently suffered another setback when he sprained his ankle against Burnley, Goal.com reported. Though it looks pretty serious at first, Mustafi said that after scans, all he may need are painkillers, and he is good to go and help Arsenal moving forward.
“Our doctors are very careful with injuries, they try to protect us as much as possible so they try to make me go safety first. But then after I received the scan I think it was clear that with a painkiller I could go back on the pitch,” he said.
Arsenal is trying to rebuild its team, and it appears they are on the right track. Arteta is receiving praise for his efforts. That includes turning the thing around with Mustafi as well as Granit Xhaka. Both are playing with renewed vigor, rekindling the football careers of the two players who many felt were fizzling out.
