Arsenal want Mykhaylo Mudryk in January and believe that a deal worth around £57million will be enough to tempt Shakhtar Donetsk.
That’s according to transfer reporter Fabrizio Romano, who claims that Arsenal feel a January deal is within reach.
Romano has told Give Me Sport that Arsenal ‘have a feeling’ that Shakhtar will accept between £52million and £57million for Mudryk.
Shakhtar have been publicly suggesting that they want around €100million for Mudryk, using deals for Jack Grealish and Antony as benchmarks.
Yet it just doesn’t feel realistic that a club will fork out £88million to sign Mudryk any time soon, and Arsenal seemingly think that a deal will be done for much less.
Romano noted that Shakhtar were asking for up to €55million (£48million) when Everton offered €30million (£26million) in August.
Mudryk’s Champions League form has helped bumped the price up, but not quite to the levels Shakhtar are publicly indicating.
What would Arsenal be getting in Mudryk?
Fans want to see Arsenal sign a striker in January after the injury to Gabriel Jesus.
Yet Arsenal instead look set to move for a new winger in Mudryk, which may mean Gabriel Martinelli is used as a striker at times to accommodate Mudryk on the left.
Mudryk, 21, has been outstanding this season with 10 goals and eight assists in 18 games for Shakhtar.
A left-sided winger with blistering pace, Mudryk loves to cut in onto his right foot and cause mayhem.
Champions League clubs found that leaving space for Mudryk on the counter-attack was a disaster waiting to happen; he was just too fast and incisive.
There are still some things that Mudryk will have to develop, such as opening up defences when there isn’t so much space on the counter.
Yet with Martinelli’s pace working perfectly in this Arsenal setup, the Gunners will hope that Mudryk can follow suit – and Mikel Arteta would love to get a big deal secured early into January.
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