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Former Arsenal star and Sky Sports pundit Charlie Nicholas has issued his verdict on what the club should do this summer, and he said centre-back Shkodran Mustafi "must be released".

What's the word, then?

Well, the Gunners would have been confident they were getting a good player when they signed the impressive Germany international from Valencia in 2016, but it hasn't proved to be the case.

The 27-year-old has repeatedly made errors and generally just doesn't look comfortable at the heart of the north London outfit's backline.

His disappointing displays haven't gone unnoticed by Nicholas, who believes that Unai Emery needs to get rid this summer even if the player still has two years remaining on his contract at the Emirates.

He told Sky Sports: "Shkodran Mustafi must be released in my opinion."

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Is he right?

If Arsenal want to boost their chances of finishing in the top four in the Premier League next season, there is no doubt that they need to strengthen at centre-back.

While Sokratis has done a solid enough job, Laurent Koscielny is too old now, Nacho Monreal isn't a natural central defender, and Konstantinos Mavropanos and Rob Holding are still young players who are yet to prove themselves on a consistent basis.

The Gunners need some stability and a calm head during the 2019/20 campaign, and Mustafi is so far away from being that.

He appears to strike fear into the crowd and his teammates with some of his decision-making and poor positioning, and that simply isn't good enough for a club of Arsenal's stature.

As Nicholas hints at, the north London outfit should be looking to move the 27-year-old during the summer transfer window, but they will surely struggle to get anywhere near the in excess of £35m fee they paid for him three years ago.