Arsenal defender Shkodran Mustafi has revealed just how much the fans mean to him after admitting he tries to re-pay their support in him by doing his best on the pitch each week.
Mustafi has hit the ground running since arriving from Spanish club Valencia in a £35million deal this summer, forming a solid partnership with Arsenal centre-back Laurent Koscielny.
The 24-year-old hasn't tasted defeat during his first few months at Arsenal and, ahead of the Gunners' Premier League game at home to Stoke on Saturday, Mustafi revealed just how much he thinks about the fans when he goes onto the pitch every week.
"You have to respect the fans a lot," the Germany international told Goal. "They're not earning the money we are earning and pay to come into the stadium, sometimes away trips, plus transport.
"It shows you how much they love this club and you have to give them respect for that.
"What I can give them back is trying to give them everything back on the pitch. As long as I work for the club that they love, I'm just going to give everything, so I'm happy with myself and make people happy."
He added: "Even if you play bad, as long as you know that you gave everything and the people see that, it makes a huge difference.
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"I try to give the people what they want back because they're not asking that much. There's nothing worse than playing a game thinking: 'We lost but I could have done more.'
"When you go into a routine every day, driving to training, going home, doing interviews, it becomes something normal but you have to remind yourself that it's not - it's something special."
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