The Mirror claims that Arsenal remain confident of signing Mykhaylo Mudryk following his social media hints, despite reports the Shakhtar Donetsk star has had his head turned by Chelsea.
Mudryk has been heavily linked with a move to Arsenal in recent months and the Ukrainian talent has not made any secret of his desire to leave Shakhtar Donetsk this month.
The Gunners have been touted as favourites to sign Mudryk and the player himself has admitted publicly he would be ‘sad’ if he didn’t secure a big-money move to Europe this winter.
Arsenal have already had two bids rejected by Shakhtar, the latest worth up to £62m, and the Mirror says the Gunners are unwilling to meet the Ukrainian clubs £88m valuation.
Initially, the North Londoners believed they were in a strong bargaining position as they were the only serious bidders and Mudryk had made it clear on several occasions he wanted to move to Arsenal.
The 22-year-old has fuelled the speculation after dropping multiple hints on social media recently. He’s ‘liked’ several posts on Instagram mentioning his move to Arsenal, he’s uploaded footage of him watching Gunners’ games and he even uploaded a photo to social media of Mikel Arteta and former coach De Zebri with a caption saying ‘two top coaches’.
However, Chelsea have now entered the race to sign the Ukrainian international and the Mirror says the Blues are reportedly willing to match Shakhtar’s £88m valuation if it meant beating Arsenal to a deal.
Talks
Shakhtar’s sporting director Darijo Srna and CEO Serhii Palkin were at Stamford Bridge for talks with Chelsea owner Todd Boehly on Thursday night, so all of a sudden Arsenal have serious competition.
The Mirror says there have been reports suggesting that Mudryk has performed a ‘U-turn’ and has had his ‘head turned’ by Chelsea’s interest, and he may now be open to the idea of joining the Blues instead of Arsenal.
However, the newspaper says the Gunners remain ‘confident’ of winning the race and are sure Mudryk only wants to move to the Emirates Stadium this month.
Arteta desperately needs attacking reinforcements and the Ukrainian starlet would be an excellent addition to his talented young squad but Arsenal still need to come to an agreement with Shakhtar.
Until that happens, Chelsea will keep pushing as Graham Potter also needs to reinforce his attacking options after Raheem Sterling and Christian Pulisic joined Mason Mount on the sidelines having picked up injuries against Man City.
It’s going to be interesting to see how this transfer saga unfolds over the coming days and weeks, but Mudryk would be an excellent signing for whoever ends up winning the race for his signature.
