Ukraine international Mykhaylo Mudryk has Ballon D’Or-winning potential amid interest from Premier League trio Arsenal, Everton and Brentford, Shakhtar Donetsk team-mate Taras Stepanenko tells Sport UA.
Mudryk picks up possession about midway through his own half and wastes no time in driving towards the Ajax defence; a blur of orange and black. He breezes past one, skips away from the much-admired Jurrien Timber and then slams a shot into the back of the home side’s net.
Until that moment, Mudryk – outside of Ukraine anyway – was a bit of an unknown quantity. But no longer.
The 21-year-old left-winger looks set to be one of the major talking points on transfer deadline day; Premier League trio Arsenal, Everton and Brentford all in contention for his £30 million-rated signature (The Athletic).
Everton, per Ben Jacobs, have already submitted a £25 million bid. Brentford, meanwhile, are refusing to accept defeat despite Mudryk’s very public snubbing of their advances earlier in the summer.
Which club will Shakhtar Donetsk’s Mykhaylo Mudryk join?
“I will say that there will be a lot of pressure on Misha now. In every match, he is expected to run 40 meters and score a goal, like against Ajax,” says experienced team-mate Stepanenko, hailing Mudryk’s remarkable rise from talented but inconsistent youngster into £30 million game-changer.
“If I’m not mistaken, he was loaned out three or four times because he had something in his head, I don’t know. (Former coach Roberto) De Zerbi found a way to approach him. But the main thing is that he started listening. He is progressing very well now.
“With such hard work, I think he can become one of the best players in the history of our country.”
Shakhtar director Darijo Srna believes that there are only two left-wingers in Europe superior to Mudryk; PSG’s Kylian Mbappe and Real Madrid’s Champions League final match-winner Vinicius Junior.
And Stepanenko insists that Mbappe and Vinicius, two future Ballon D’Or candidates, could find themselves facing competition one day from arguably Ukraine’s most exciting talent since Andriy Shevchenko.
“(Does he have the) potential to win the Ballon d’Or? Why not? Yes, he has everything,” the midfielder adds. “He works, lives by football. The main thing is that he does not pay attention to what is said about him around.
“One day he will produce a super game, one day he will be invisible. But he will gradually raise his level.”
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