Arsenal have made an opening bid of €65 million (£56 million) to sign Shakhtar Donetsk winger Mykhailo Mudryk.
The 21 year old is regarded as the Gunners top target in the transfer window, as Mikel Arteta’s team loom to continue their push for Champions League football in the second half of the season.
His club have said they are not prepared to accept anything less than €100 million for a player who has been described as the Ukrainian Messi. But, given that he is still raw at the top level, and that Liverpool have just agreed a deal of around £37 million to sign the much more proven Cody Gakpo from PSV Eindhoven, such a valuation appears unrealistic.
The Gunners have identified another wide forward and midfield reinforcements as their priority when the January transfer window opens, with Arteta highlighting the benefits of getting deals done early, so that new signings have time to settle in at the Emirates. T
Andy is an exiled English football fan living in Cyprus. He loves all sports but football is his abiding passion, and he still has dreams every now and then about scoring the winning goal in a Wembley Cup Final, even though his playing days are long gone. He follows most major leagues, across Europe at least, and has a favoured team in each. When he’s not watching, listening, reading or downloading podcasts about football, he spend his time worrying about his beloved Arsenal.