It was a weekend of hat-tricks in the Premier League. Leandro Trossard maintained his outstanding start to the new season with three emphatic finishes in Brighton’s topsy-turvy 3-3 draw with Liverpool, while Erling Haaland and Phil Foden ended up sharing the match ball following Sunday’s thrilling Manchester derby.
Mykhaylo Mudryk, meanwhile, grabbed a treble of a very different variety. One of Europe’s most coveted young forwards didn’t find the net in Shakhtar Donetsk’s 6-1 thumping of Metalist. In fact, he missed a penalty in the second half.
But there is far more to Mudryk’s game than sticking the ball in the back of the net, however, and he proved as much with a wicked corner kick flicked home by Danylo Sikan for Shakhtar’s opener on Saturday afternoon.
Mudryk’s incisive cross then set up Oleksandr Zubkov for the visitors’ third. Just moments later, he left the Metalist defence flat-footed yet again.
The silky Ukraine international expertly controlled a diagonal pass, checked inside onto his right foot before floating an inch-perfect pass towards the far post. Three assists in one half. Three assists in just 20 minutes.
Mykhaylo Mudryk shows why Newcastle, Everton and Arsenal want him
Shakhtar director Darijo Srna certainly raised his fair share of eyebrows recently. Mudryk, he says, is the third-best left winger in Europe right now. Behind only Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius Jr, in fact. And while Metalist are hardly opposition of the elite variety, while Mudryk cannot claim to have come close to matching the achievements of Mbappe or Vinicius at this stage of his career, Srna is clearly an impressive judge of talent.
“Mudryk is better than all the Brazilians who have been here,” the Croatian legend adds.
Some praise. Especially when you consider that Fernandinho, Willian and former Bayern Munich flyer Douglas Costa are among the Samba stars who have called Shakhtar home over the years.
According to The I, Newcastle are considering whether or not to meet Mudryk’s rumoured £50 million price-tag. West Ham and Leeds United have scouted him too, via 90Min. Everton also failed with a £25 million bid in August.
Arsenal, however, remain Mudryk’s destination. And if the Gunners are serious about keeping pace with Erling Haaland’s Manchester City at the top of the table, then January could be the ideal moment to test Shakhtar’s resolve.
“Arsenal are a very good team,” Mudryk told CBS Sports. “From my side, I can’t say no.”
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