Arsenal have been told by Shakhtar Donetsk that they will “have to pay a lot of money” if they want to sign winger Mykhaylo Mudryk from the Ukrainian giants.
The 21-year-old is one of the best young footballers in Ukraine and has impressed in the Champions League this season, scoring two goals and providing two assists in his two appearances against German giants RB Leipzig and Scottish champions Celtic.
Mudryk has been the breakout star of this season’s tournament and he has already addressed transfer speculation linking him with a move to the Gunners, leaving the door open to a future move to the north London club.
Mudryk raised eyebrows in August when he liked a post on Instagram suggesting Arsenal were interested in signing him before the transfer deadline. A move never materialised, yet he will continue to be linked with Premier League clubs – Brentford, Everton and Liverpool among them – for the foreseeable future.
Shakhtar’s Director of Football and club legend Darijo Srna has now spoken about Mudryk’s future, claiming that despite his lack of experience – with only 60 first-team appearances in senior football – the Ukraine international is already one of Europe’s best attacking players.
Speaking in an interview with Marca, Srna said: “We may have lost part of our identity, but I would tell you that Mudryk is better than all the Brazilians we have ever had. It is not an exaggeration. I have been in football all my life and I would dare to say that he is the best player in Europe in his position after Mbappe, Neymar and Vinicius.”
Going into further detail about Mudryk’s quality, Srna added: “He is incredible. He has everything and he shows it in every game. He drives with his left foot, with his right, he excels in one-on-one situations, he’s a good boy… and he’s only 21. He’s not worried about offers; he just wants to have fun playing football.”
While Shakhtar did not confirm a minimum price tag for Mudryk, they did warn that the fact he was from Ukraine and not Brazil has not deceived them on just how high his technical level is, while pointing to their ability to generate big sales as a club.
Srna added: “If he had a Brazilian passport, he would be worth €100m. If someone wants him, they will have to pay a lot of money. We have already shown that we know the market and we know how to sell players. There they are the examples of Chygrynskyi, Mkhitaryan, Alex Teixeira, Fred, Fernandinho, Douglas Costa…”
