Arsenal have made an improved offer for Mykhaylo Mudryk, the Shakhtar Donetsk winger who is their No 1 January target. Talks are on after the Ukrainian club rejected an earlier bid of £35.5m plus £17.7m in add-ons.
Shakhtar set their asking price at £85m but are aware Arsenal are unlikely to go that high and are weighing up their next move. There is also interest from Chelsea but Mudryk, who turns 22 on Thursday, has his heart set on the Premier League leaders.
He has posted pictures on social media that show he has been watching Arsenal’s two most recent matches and described Mikel Arteta as a “top coach” during Saturday’s 4-2 victory at Brighton.
Mudryk impressed in the Champions League group stage, scoring three times – twice against Celtic and once against Leipzig – and has seven goals in his past eight league appearances for Shakhtar, who are on a winter break.
Arteta has urged Arsenal to make signings and to do so as swiftly as possible. His team hope to win the club’s first Premier League title since 2004 and will go 10 points clear of second-placed Manchester City if they win at home to Newcastle on Tuesday.
