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Arsenal remain favourites to sign Mudryk in January
Arsenal are reportedly still the favourite to sign Shakhtar Donetsk forward Mykhailo Mudryk, despite Chelsea’s growing interest, as per the transfer journalist Simon Phillips.
The Gunners hold a long-term interest in the Ukraine international and they are looking to purchase the highly-rated forward this winter to strengthen the forward line.
Mikel Arteta’s side have already submitted two official proposals, with the second bid being around £60m, including bonuses. However, the Independent recently reported that the north London club’s second offer is £17m short of what Shakhtar are demanding to sell their biggest asset.
The report also said that Chelsea have recently entered the race to sign Mudryk this January and they are looking to take advantage of the valuation gap between Arsenal and Shakhtar.
However, speaking to GiveMeSport, Simon Phillips has stated that although Chelsea ‘hold an interest’ in Mudryk this winter, Arsenal remain the favourites to purchase the talented forward as the player has his ‘heart set’ on a move to move to the Emirates Stadium.
Mykhailo Mudryk to Arsenal
The journalist further claims that using Chelsea’s name could be a negotiation tactic from Shakhtar to force Arsenal to raise their price, but ultimately he expects Mudryk to join the Gunners this month.
Phillips said:
“Chelsea hold an interest, but the feeling from sources is he has his heart set on joining Arsenal, and we expect that to happen. It feels a bit like Chelsea could be being used to get Arsenal to pay up for him, but that’s my opinion.”
Chelsea looked to make a few transfer hijacks last summer, with Marc Cucurella being a perfect example of that. The Spaniard was heavily linked with a move to Manchester City, but the Blues swooped in and secured the deal at the last second.
The Stamford Bridge outfit tried to do the same with Raphinha, who was linked with a move to Arsenal last summer, but in the end, the Brazilian opted to join Barcelona.
Therefore, Arsenal should be careful of Chelsea’s threat in signing Mudryk this January. Having done the groundwork for this deal, the north London club should not slip up on the final hurdle.
It will be interesting to see whether Arsenal will be able to get this deal over the line but Arteta needs attacking reinforcements quickly, so he’ll be keen to get Mudryk throught the door as quickly as possible.
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