Mykhaylo Mudryk to Arsenal is gathering momentum by the hour even though the January transfer window has only just opened.
It was only a week ago when football.london revealed that the Gunners had submitted a bid in the region of £55million plus add-ons for the highly-rated Shakhtar Donetsk winger. And whilst that offer was rejected, fresh reports claim the Ukrainian side’s resolve has been tested once again.
According to GOAL, Arsenal have made an improved offer for Mudryk as Mikel Arteta looks to bolster his attacking options. In addition, the report states that the bid is now being considered by Shakhtar despite it still being way off their very public valuation of over £86m.
This development comes after French news outlet Foot Mercato claimed that the north London outfit have already agreed personal terms with the 21-year-old. Furthermore, one supporter presented a brilliant theory that the winger is in the capital ahead of completing a move.
Taking to Instagram, Mudryk posted an image of him working hard to maintain his fitness. However, as the Ukraine international was pictured using ‘Kettler’ exercise equipment, which is a UK-based company, the aforementioned Arsenal fan is convinced the player is in England.
Whilst this theory has not been confirmed, if Mudryk does join the club at some point this month, then even more supporters will be looking forward to seeing the forward holding the Arsenal shirt at his unveiling – but what squad number could the forward take at the Emirates Stadium?
Well, it would appear that he has one favoured option as he currently wears the no.10 shirt for Shakhtar and did so for his national team in their UEFA Nations League double-header against Scotland in September.
At Arsenal, the incumbent no. 10 is Emile Smith Rowe and Premier League rules state ‘while he remains with the Club a Player will retain his shirt number throughout the Season for which it was allocated’. This means Mudryk would have to choose another shirt number if he was to join the north London outfit in January.
With that said, the winger has worn other numbers on the back of his shirt during his rise up the ranks at Shakhtar and during a couple of loan spells. At Arsenal Kyiv he had the rather unique choice of no.91 and he used no.14 during his brief time with Desna in the 2020/21 season.
But since returning to his parent club, Mudryk has worn no.91, no.20 and no.10. Of those, the no.20 is currently vacant at Arsenal following Nuno Tavares’ loan move to Marseille in the summer. The same applies to no.91, but that has never been worn by a first-team player at the club.
