A potential transfer saga could be set to unfold surrounding the future of highly-touted 21-year-old Ukrainian international winger Mykhailo Mudryk after Premier League-leading Arsenal submitted a formal bid for the Shakhtar Donetsk starlet.
The Gunners tabled their first official bid for the left winger yesterday in an offer that was reportedly €40m (£35m) plus an additional €20m (£18m) in potential add-ons, with Mudryk posting on social media as he watched in admiration as Mikel Arteta’s men resume Premier League play in a 3-1 win against West Ham last night.
Expectedly, Shakhtar rebuffed Arsenal’s initial approach and deemed it well short of the mark in order to prize arguably their best-ever academy product away from the Ukrainian domestic giants, with the club pursuing greater financial compensation.
Though Arsenal has no desire to approach the figure of €100m (~£90m) that Shakhtar is hopeful of getting as close to as possible, reports from today suggest that the Gunners hierarchy remains confident that a deal can be struck so long as the north London giants raise their base fee to something deemed suitable.
This could mean that an upfront fee in the region of €50m and holding firm on the €20m figure for add-ons could be the club’s next offer, with Arsenal said to be unwilling to go any higher than €70m total for the left-sided sparkplug.
It would already be a steep asking price for a player, who though talented and boasting considerable potential, has only one full season under his belt both at home and abroad in the Champions League, even if some of those appearances on the continent have proven to be superb.
Arsenal, however, reportedly views Mudryk as a player that is fully capable of contributing upon arrival and could be molded into a truly world-class talent while adding to a young core across the forward line that already features Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli, Eddie Nketiah, Martin Ødegaard, and possibly Folarin Balogun.
With the Gunners insistent on viewing Mudryk as their prime target in the winter window, the club is sure to return with another offer in the hopes that Shakhtar will come off their hill to the negotiating table given the player’s insistence on getting his big move.
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