Arsenal defender rules out Bundesliga return

Recently, reports linked Arsenal's resident German tower with a move back to the Bundesliga, to Wolfsburg. However, the defender has come out to publicly rubbish these statements.

He claimed: "No, I don't consider a return to Germany. I am under contract with Arsenal and I am planning to stay on at Arsenal for more years from now". Whether this statement of intent is a positive or negative one remains to be seen. Mertesacker had a very inconsistent first season at the Emirates, but recently he has looked far more assured - if not solid - despite the occasional wobble.

The tall, lanky centre-half has excellent positional sense, and reads the game well in order to prevent opposition attackers from breaking through. However, he has not been blessed with any form of pace (I sometimes think I can see multiple slugs overtaking the German on the pitch), which means that when he gets his positioning wrong, he is largely unable to recover.

Wolfsburg's new manager holds Mertesacker in high regard, having worked with him previously at Werder Bremen, but while the Germany international is getting regular playing time at a far more established club in Arsenal, the chances of this move happening are small. Besides, he has an uncanny knack for scoring against Spurs, and that alone will endear him to the Arsenal faithful.

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