According to The Times, Arsenal are finally closing in on the signing of Mykhaylo Mudryk from Shakhtar Donetsk.
Indeed, the newspaper report that Shakhtar have finally come round to the fact that they’ll have to accept Arsenal’s latest proposal soon, and while the deal will be short of their £88m asking price, this transfer is still set to be worth around £80m.
An £80m deal will represent a club-record for Arsenal whose current record stands at £72m paid for Nicolas Pepe from Lille back in 2019.
The Gunners will certainly be hoping that Mudryk fares better than Pepe at the Emirates as the Ivorian was nothing short of an abject failure in north London after his huge move.
Arsenal are hopeful that they will have Mudryk signed up before next Sunday’s game against Manchester United.
Whether or not the Ukrainian would be in line to play any sort of part against United remains to be seen, but with Gabriel Martinelli in fine form this season, Mudryk isn’t even guaranteed to be a starter at Arsenal.
Paying a club-record fee for a player who isn’t guaranteed to start and has never kicked a ball in one of Europe’s top five leagues does seem baffling, but, at the same time, many criticised the deals to bring Aaron Ramsdale and Ben White to the club in the summer of 2021, and now, in hindsight, those two deals look like wonderful pieces of business.
So, what type of player are Arsenal getting here? Well, Mudryk has been described as ‘powerful’ in the past, and it’s fair to say that his pace is his main attribute.
He’s also a smart runner and a decent finisher, but whether or not those skills translate over to the Premier League remains an unanswered question.
Mudryk finally looks to be set for Arsenal, and he could play next weekend.
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