Mykhaylo Mudryk has long been a target for Arsenal, but Shakhtar Donetsk will not make for an easy trade partner.
The young player seems to be quite receptive to a move to Arsenal, who would require extra depth in their wide areas, despite all the interest. It’s difficult to tell [who his ideal move is], but Arsenal is a very good team with a very good coach, and I like the way they play, he said in a statement to CBS Sports. “I think every person dreams about the Premier League.”
He responded, “From my side, I can’t say no [to Arsenal], but the transfer is not exclusively my decision,” when asked if he will move to the Emirates.
Even though the window just closed, it won’t be long until it opens up again in January for clubs to add to their rosters. That might enable the Gunners to eventually approach Mudryk.
Fabrizio Romano claims that Shakhtar intends to hold out for a sizable sum, particularly since Ajax was successful in selling Antony, a winger who is a year older than Mudryk, to Manchester United for €100 million (£86.8 million).
According to HITC, the Italian transfer expert stated on Que Golazo: “I think Arsenal has a chance in the future, but only Arsenal. In the summer, they had a fantastic opportunity.
“During the summer, when I was talking to my sources about Mudryk to learn more about what would happen with clubs around Europe, they told me that Shakhtar truly believes that this player is worth much more than €30 million (£26 million).
“They got an offer from Everton in the final week of the transfer window, for €30 million with add-ons. After Antony was sold to Manchester United at €100 million, they made the decision to decline.
“For us, Mudryk can’t be sold for €30, €35, or €40 million (£34.7 million). We want considerably more than this,” they claimed. This explains why they ultimately decided to keep the player despite their conviction that they would sell him for an absurd amount of money.
“Arsenal have a chance for the future, but there will be many other clubs in the race,” Romano said in his conclusion. It won’t be simple, that much is certain.
Evidently, the fact that Ajax was able to negotiate such a high price for Antony has given Shakhtar hope. That might make it too expensive for Arsenal to move. Edu has been very strict with Arsenal’s expenditure in recent transfer windows to make sure the Gunners don’t overpay for a target or underspend in an overvalued market.
It will be challenging to agree on a fee if Shakhtar don’t adjust their strategy, since the Brazilian is unlikely to budge on that policy going forward.
