Valencia have reportedly told SER Deportivos Valencia, a local radio station, that they have had no offer from Arsenal for centre-half Shkodran Mustafi.

The German international has been strongly linked with a move to North London to fill the gap left by Per Mertesacker, and speculation over his future was heightened when he trained away from his teammates with two other players who are rumoured to be leaving the club.

Nor did he feature in last night’s pre-season friendly against Bournemouth, apparently due to a foot injury. However, the La Liga side say they have not yet received an offer from the Gunners.

That’s at odds with other stories which reported an €18m Arsenal bid was turned down by Valencia late last week. So, there appears to be a lot of smoke around this one, but it’s hard to see where the fire is, and the good word is our interest in him is real.

The 24 year old certainly fits the bill in terms of what we’re looking for, but there’s also interest in him from Chelsea, so if we are interested we’d be well advised to get moving.

Not least because the season starts next Sunday, and we’ll be without Mertesacker, and Laurent Koscielny for the opening game at least, so getting that defender in and settled is of paramount importance.

Our blogging colleague over at We Are The Northbank (not one for madey-up nonsense), reckons negotiations are imminent.

Poo-o-Meter remains at 5 on this one for now.