Shkodran Mustafi (; born 17 April 1992) is a German former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

. Mustafi began his career in the youth ranks of

Hamburger SV Hamburger Sport-Verein e.V. (), commonly known as Hamburger SV () or Hamburg (), or HSV (), is a German sports club based in Hamburg, with its largest branch being its Association football, football department. Though the current HSV was founde ...

and English club Everton, where he made one substitute appearance for them before leaving to Sampdoria in January 2012. He signed a five-year deal at

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

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 The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...

with Schalke 04 and

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

with Levante. Mustafi made his full international debut against

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

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 list of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil fr ...

and the

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

, also competing at

UEFA Euro 2016 The 2016 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2016 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2016) or simply Euro 2016, was the 15th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's association football, football ch ...

Club career

Early career

Mustafi was born in Bad Hersfeld, Hesse, to a Macedonian Albanian family originally from

Gostivar Gostivar ( ; sq-definite, Gostivari) is a city in North Macedonia, located in the upper Polog valley region. It is the seat of one of the larger municipalities in the country with a population of 59,770, and the town also covers . Gostivar has ...

in the former

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

. Mustafi started his career in the youth system of local 1. FC Bebra, and had a stint with SV Rotenburg, before joining

's youth setup in 2006.

Everton

In May 2009, Mustafi joined Everton, initially assigned to the academy team. He later stated that "

Goodison Park Goodison Park is a Association football, football stadium in Walton, Liverpool, Walton, Liverpool, England, it was the home of Premier League club Everton F.C., Everton from 1892 until 2025. It is now the home of Everton F.C. (women), Everton's ...

feels like home", after turning down offers from

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

and

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Since th ...

. 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, for the season's

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

. He was also named on the bench for the

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

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 The Serie B (), officially known as Serie BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 season. It had b ...

side Sampdoria, 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 Varese ( , ; or ; ; ; archaic ) is a city and ''comune'' in north-western Lombardy, northern Italy, north-west of Milan. The population of Varese in 2018 was 80,559. It is the capital of the Province of Varese. The hinterland or exurban part ...

. It was his maiden appearance in the competition, as Sampdoria returned to

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

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 ( ; ; , 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 province. The ...

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

Atalanta Atalanta (; ) is a heroine in Greek mythology. There are two versions of the huntress Atalanta: one from Arcadia (region), Arcadia, whose parents were Iasus and Clymene (mythology), Clymene and who is primarily known from the tales of the Caly ...

at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris.

Valencia

On 7 August 2014, Mustafi signed a five-year deal with

Valencia CF Valencia Club de Fútbol, S. A. D. (; ), commonly referred to as Valencia CF or simply Valencia, is a Spanish professional Association football, football club based in Valencia, Spain, that currently plays in La Liga, the top tier of the Spani ...

, 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 Elche (, ; , , , ; officially: ''/'' ) is a city and Municipalities of Spain, municipality of Spain, belonging to the province of Alicante, in the Valencian Community. According to 2024's data, Elche has a population of 234,800 inhabitants,

. 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 Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

in the first leg of the

Copa del Rey The , commonly known as , or (in English) the Spanish Cup or King's Cup, and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–1936) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–1976), is an annual knockout football competition in Spanis ...

semi-final, after conceding a penalty with a foul on

Lionel Messi Lionel Andrés "Leo" Messi (; born 24 June 1987) is an Argentine professional Association football, footballer who plays as a forward (association football), forward for and Captain (association football), captains both Major League Soccer ...

. 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 Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

at the

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

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 unitary authority area, in the ceremonial county of Dorset, England. At the 2021 census, the built-up area had a population of 196,455, making it the largest ...

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 Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2021 population of 78,266. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River B ...

. Because of illness, he missed Arsenal's 2–1 win over Chelsea in the 2017 FA Cup Final on 27 May. Mustafi was in the starting 11 against

in the

EFL Cup The English Football League Cup, often referred to as the League Cup and currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout competition in men's domestic football in England. Orga ...

final on 25 February 2018. He made a mistake in the 18th minute that allowed

Sergio Agüero Sergio Leonel Agüero del Castillo (born 2 June 1988), also known as Kun Agüero, is an Argentine former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football)#Striker, striker. He is regarded as one of th ...

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 Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

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 (sport), behind closed doors between Arsenal F.C., Arsenal and Chelsea F.C., Chelsea at Wembley Stadium in London ...

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 Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

in the 2020 FA Community Shield 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 on a six-month contract. He made his debut five days later in a 0–3 defeat against

RB Leipzig RasenBallsport Leipzig e.V. (), commonly known as RB Leipzig or informally as Red Bull Leipzig, is a German professional association football, football club based in Leipzig, Saxony. The club was founded in 2009 by the initiative of the company ...

in the

. He played 13 games for the team from

Gelsenkirchen Gelsenkirchen (, , ; ) is the List of cities in Germany by population, 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, Emscher River (a tribu ...

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

Levante

On 2 September 2021, Mustafi returned to the city of

, 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 The quadriceps femoris muscle (, also called the quadriceps extensor, quadriceps or quads) is a large muscle group that includes the four prevailing muscles on the front of the thigh. It is the sole extensor muscle of the knee, forming a large ...

strain between April and July. His one goal was the early opener in a 3–1 loss at

Real Betis Real Betis Balompié, known as Real Betis () is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Seville, Andalusia, Spain. It plays in La Liga, the Spanish football league system, top flight of Spanish football. It plays home ...

on 28 November 2021. He was confirmed to have been released by the club on 10 July 2023 after his contract expired and retired on 25 June 2024 to become the assistant coach of the German U17 national team, having not played senior football after leaving Levante. In the four top-flights of Italy, England, Spain and Germany he amassed 240 league matches in his career.

International career

Eligible to represent

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

North Macedonia North Macedonia, officially the Republic of North Macedonia, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe. It shares land borders with Greece to the south, Albania to the west, Bulgaria to the east, Kosovo to the northwest and Serbia to the n ...

and

Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

, Mustafi played for his country of birth at youth level; with the under-17 team he won the 2009 UEFA European Under-17 Championship. Joachim Löw called up Mustafi to the Germany national squad for a friendly match against

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

in February 2014, he made his full international debut in a friendly match against

, 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 Marco Reus (; born 31 May 1989) is a German professional association football, footballer who plays as a Forward (association football), forward for Major League Soccer club LA Galaxy. Reus spent his youth career at Borussia Dortmund, prior to l ...

. He appeared as a substitute in Germany's opening World Cup game against

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

, coming on in the 73rd minute in place of

Mats Hummels Mats Julian Hummels (; born 16 December 1988) is a German former professional Association football, footballer who played as a centre-back. Known for his well-timed tackles, accurate long passes from the back, aerial ability and strength, he is r ...

to win his second

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. The origin of the word "cap" comes from the Old French word "chapeau" which means "head co ...

. In the team's second match, he again came on as a substitute, replacing Jérôme Boateng at half time against

Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...

. He was selected to start at right-back in Germany's

round of 16 A single-elimination knockout, or sudden-death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of a match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final match-up, w ...

match against

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

, but was substituted in the 70th minute for

Sami Khedira Sami Khedira (; ; born 4 April 1987) is a German former professional Association football, footballer who played as a central midfielder. He began his career at VfB Stuttgart, winning the Bundesliga in 2007, before moving to Real Madrid CF, Re ...

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

. In Germany's opening match against

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

Lille Lille (, ; ; ; ; ) is a city in the northern part of France, within French Flanders. Positioned along the Deûle river, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Prefectures in F ...

, 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. So his 20th international appearance from October 2017 was eventually his last one. During this time, Mustafi was a part of a collaboration between the

German Football Association The German Football Association ( ; DFB ) is the governing body of Association football, football, futsal, and beach soccer in Germany. A founding member of both FIFA and UEFA, the DFB has jurisdiction for the German football league system and ...

and

The LEGO Group Lego A/S, also known as the Lego Group, is a Danish construction toy production company based in Billund. It manufactures Lego-branded toys, consisting mostly of interlocking ABS plastic and rubber bricks. The Lego Group has also built severa ...

, who in May 2016 released a Europe-exclusive collectible minifigure series, with Mustafi featured as the sixth of sixteen minifigures in the collection.

Personal life

Mustafi is an ethnic Albanian from

. He was born and grew up in Germany and holds both Albanian and German citizenship. Mustafi is a practising

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

. In July 2016, he married Albanian model Vjosa Kaba in

. The couple have a daughter, Noemi (born in July 2017), and a son, Amar (born in January 2019).

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Germany score listed first, score column indicates score after each Mustafi goal.''

Honours

Arsenal *

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

: 2016–17, 2019–20 *

runner-up: 2017–18 *

runner-up: 2018–19 Germany U17 *

UEFA European Under-17 Championship The UEFA European Under-17 Championship, or simply the Euro Under-17, is an annual Association football, football competition contested by the men's under-17 national teams of the UEFA member associations. Spain national under-17 football team, ...

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

Germany *

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often called the World Cup, is an international association football competition among the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internatio ...

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

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, CONMEBO ...

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

References

External links

Profile
at the Arsenal F.C. website * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mustafi, Shkodran 1992 births Living people People from Bad Hersfeld Footballers from Kassel (region) German men's footballers Men's association football defenders Everton F.C. players UC 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 Segunda División players Germany men's youth international footballers Germany men's under-21 international footballers Germany men's international footballers 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 men's footballers German expatriate sportspeople in England German expatriate sportspeople in Italy German expatriate sportspeople in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Expatriate men's footballers in Spain German people of Albanian descent Sportspeople of Albanian descent German people of Macedonian descent German Muslims 21st-century German sportsmen