Shkodran Mustafi says that he contemplated not signing with Arsenal last year, considering how bad his previous spell in England was.

Mustafi joined the Gunners for £35million from Valencia last August, and had a mixed debut season in north London.

The German is now relatively settled in the heart of the club’s defence however, having featured 37 times last season.

Mustafi will hope to improve on his debut Premier League campaign, but knows that his previous time in England was considerably worse.

The 25-year-old spent three years at Everton from 2009, failing to make a single league appearance before leaving for Sampdoria.

“To be honest at the beginning I thought I was done with England because it was really frustrating and probably the worst time I had as a footballer,” Mustafi told Arsenal Player.

“I didn’t want to go there again but then when it came down to making a decision to stay or leave, I thought I would only leave Valencia if I had the opportunity to go to England.

“I was thankful that I had another opportunity to make a step forward by coming to Arsenal. For the rest of my life, I don’t want to be patient anymore.”