Shakhtar Donetsk winger Mykhaylo Mudryk would favour a transfer move to Arsenal ahead of Chelsea, according to reports.
- William Gallas names Arsenal player who is the second-best player in the Premier League
- Benfica boss slams ‘disrespectful’ Chelsea over attempts to sign Enzo Fernandez
- Lionel Messi lifted FAKE World Cup trophy in record-breaking Instagram photo of all time
The two Premier League teams are both in discussions to sign the Shakhtar Donetsk star this month, with Arsenal already making two offers for the winger.
Arsenal’s opening offer of £35.5m, plus another £17.7m in add-ons, has been turned down by Shakhtar, while their follow-up offer still falls short of the Ukrainian side’s £85m valuation.
Chelsea, meanwhile, have yet to formalise an offer for Mudryk but Shakhtar director Darijo Srna was in attendance at Stamford Bridge on Thursday as Graham Potter’s team were beaten 1-0 by Manchester City.
According to The Guardian, Chelsea remain ‘hopeful’ of signing Mudryk after holding ‘positive’ talks with Shakhtar over a possible deal.
But, the report claims that if Mudryk is given a choice between signing for Arsenal or Chelsea, the 22-year-old would still choose to join Mikel Arteta’s side.
Meanwhile, Shakhtar’s deputy sporting director, Carlo Nicolini, says the Ukrainian club are in no rush to sell Mudryk and are using Manchester United’s £85m deal to sign Antony last summer as a guide for the winger.
‘Given that we have no need for transfers, we said in due time that we evaluate the player stronger than some other profiles, such as Antony. This is the benchmark,’ Nicolini told CalcioNapoli24.
‘The problem is that Italian clubs don’t take advantage of opportunities, like Milan with Enzo Fernandez, who is now worth over 100 million.
‘When you arrive in time on a player you have to sink the shot, otherwise the prices change.’
