Arsenal target has ‘simple’ transfer verdict after ‘direct’ talks – asking price plummets to £40m

Lewis Oldham
Arsenal keen to sign Mudryk

Arsenal target Mykhaylo Mudryk reportedly “wants” to join the Premier League side as he has been “very impressed” by their head coach Mikel Arteta.

Mudryk has consistently been linked with a move to Arsenal over the past few months.

Newcastle United, Everton and Brentford are also understood to have expressed interest in him during the summer.

The winger has gained more admirers in recent months as he has shone in the Champions League. He grabbed three goals and two assists in the group stages of this year’s competition.

This has only added to the price tag of a player who is under contract until 2026. It was recently claimed that Shakhtar Donetsk want as much as £87m for their prized asset.

Mudryk has not exactly been discreet when discussing his future in recent months. He has already openly admitted that Arsenal are the team he wants to join next.

“Shakhtar for me is my home,” Mudryk said. “All my thoughts are only about Shakhtar.

“In winter we [will] see.

“I think every guy dreams about [playing in the] Premier League.

“Arsenal is a very good team. Very good coach. I like the way they play.

“From my side, I can’t say no [to Arsenal], but a transfer is not only my decision.”

The Gunners were keen to sign a new winger during the summer, with Yeremi Pino and Pedro Neto being among their targets.

They are known to be big admirers of Mudryk and he is clearly a brilliant talent, but it was hard to imagine anyone coming close to spending £87m to sign him in January.

So it will no doubt be to Arsenal’s relief that Shakhtar are now looking for a much more reasonable £40m plus add-ons for Mudryk.

This would make a January transfer way more doable, and journalist Ben Jacobs has now claimed that Mudryk has “spoken directly” to Oleksandr Zinchenko about a move to Arsenal.

“From Mudryk’s point of view, he wants Arsenal, it’s as simple as that,” Jacobs told GiveMeSport.

“He said that many times including directly to me in an interview that I did about two months ago, he said he can’t say no to Arsenal.

“He’s spoken directly with Zinchenko his countryman, he’s very impressed by Mikel Arteta and the style that the team play.”

Earlier this month, Shakhtar Donetsk manager Igor Jovicevic suggested that Mudryk would be better off staying at the club for now.

“There are several football players in Dinamo (Zagreb), for example, Josko Gvardiol, who plays for Leipzig and today played in the World Cup [for Croatia], the Spaniard Dani Olmo, who played in Zagreb,” Jovicevic told reporters.

“Each of them played at least 100 matches for the club and only then moved from the intermediate club, and not immediately to Barcelona and Manchester City.

“This is one small example of how to build your career correctly so that you reach the highest level already ready, powerful.”

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