Mykhaylo Mudryk explains why he 'cannot say no' to Arsenal transfer
By Tom Gott
Shakhtar Donetsk winger Mykhaylo Mudryk has doubled down on his desire to join Arsenal in the near future.
90min understands the Gunners are leading the charge to sign the Ukraine international, who has been valued publicly at £90m by a number of officials at Shakhtar, but a bid of £55m has been swiftly shot down.
Sources believe that Shakhtar would be prepared to do business for closer to £80m, with Arsenal understood to be ready to break their club record to sign Mudryk in January. A winger has been among their top targets since the summer failure to recruit Raphinha - the Brazilian also snubbed Chelsea in favour of joining Barcelona from Leeds.
Mudryk has already admitted his interest in swapping Shakhtar for Arsenal and, in a new interview with Ben Jacobs, he reiterated his stance.
"Arsenal are a very good team," he explained. "A very good coach. I like the way they play. From my side, I can't say no."
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Mudryk did stress his commitment to Shakhtar but refused to rule out leaving the Ukrainian side in January.
"In the winter, we will see. There's a lot of discussions about a transfer, about clubs who want me. But it's normal," he said.
"Now, I'm in Shakhtar and I want to play in this team. I love this team. I love every guy in this team. Shakhtar for me is my home. But now, for me, it's very important, all my thoughts are only about Shakhtar. But, in the winter, we will see."
The January window will also see Arsenal ramp up their interest in Leicester City midfielder Youri Tielemans.
90min understands the Gunners are likely to bid for Tielemans in January but expect to be rebuffed by Leicester, who would prefer to keep the Belgian until the end of the season and lose him for a free instead of selling for a low fee in the winter window.