Arsenal Reject Shkodran Mustafi Is Voted Loser Of The Season By Fellow Bundesliga Players

Ex-Arsenal player Shkodran Mustafi has been voted as the biggest loser of last season by his fellow Bundesliga players.

This one has to hurt. The German football magazine Kicker holds annual awards at the end of the season, where professionals anonymously vote on things like player of the year (Robert Lewandowski won with 74%) and best newcomer (18-year-old Jamal Musiala).

However they also vote for "relegated player of the season" in honour of the player who has had the worst time of it. Step forward, Schalke's Shkodran Mustafi.

To be fair to Mustafi, a World Cup winner with Germany back in 2014, he was one of 10 Schalke players who received votes. The German club had a dreadful season as they finished bottom with only 16 points from 34 games.

It's the first time Schalke have been relegated in 30 years so naturally their players dominated this unwanted category. But - despite only joining Schadlke at the start of February after his Arsenal contract was terminated - Mustafi "won" the award with 13.3% of the overall vote.

The 29-year-old defender played 151 games for Arsenal in his five-year spell and won two FA Cups.

However Mustafi developed a reputation for defensive howlers during his time at the Emirates and, while he really cannot be blamed for everything that has gone wrong at Schalke this season, it does not seem that his luck has changed during his time in the Bundesliga.

He clearly hasn't had an easy time of it as Schalke's players were attacked and chased down the street by their own fans following the confirmation of their relegation in April.

Mustafi was among the players involved, as was Arsenal loanee Sead Kolasinac.

Now comes the latest blow that - despite his Schalke teammates Suat Serdar, Amine Harit and Mark Uth also featuring highly - Mustafi has been voted as "relegated" player of the season by his fellow pros.

Unsurprisingly, Schalke's relegation also won the "negative surprise of the season" award with 75% of the vote.

Keep your chin up, Shkodran. Things can presumably only get better.

All imagery: PA Images

Topics: Arsenal, Shkodran Mustafi, Bundesliga

Alex Reid

Alex Reid is a writer at SPORTbible who’s previously strung words together for FourFourTwo, Boxing News, The Guardian and, yes, Cruise International (it’s about big ships, not Tom). Interests range from football and boxing to real sports like WWE and darts. He is not a cage fighter.

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