Arsenal

Arsenal: Presenter delivers verdict on club’s ‘number one target’ Mudryk

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Image for Arsenal: Presenter delivers verdict on club’s ‘number one target’ Mudryk

Lee Gunner has stated on his YouTube channel that he’s ‘not convinced’ that Arsenal will pay the money required for Shakhtar Donetsk’s Mykhailo Mudryk.

According to The Athletic, Shakhtar have said that any clubs interested in signing the winger will need to pay around £90 million for his services.

Other interested clubs include Manchester City, Newcastle United and Paris Saint-Germain, per the same report.

Mudryk is only 21 years old, but this season he has 18 goal contributions in 18 matches for Shakthar. That’s an incredible return for such a young talent.

However, Gunner isn’t convinced it’ll happen. He believes there are question marks around him, he doesn’t want money wasted on a player who might not cut it.

He stated: “He is our number one target if you listen to Fabrizio Romano and many other journalists out there, he is Arsenal’s number one target this January, but this is where the problem is. The problem is the price, and are we going to go out there after being stumped for Nicolas Pepe? And go and do the same sort of dough on him? I’m not I’m not convinced we will.”

TIF’s view on Gunner’s comments…

We believe that the price set by Shakhtar is extremely steep. Especially when he’s only played his league football in Ukraine.

But his stats are incredible, he’s in the top 99 percentile for non-penalty goals and in the top 97 percentile for assists. So it shows that he’s a player who is a goal scoring and creative threat (FBref).

Furthermore, he’s a fantastic dribbler with the ball at his feet. Mudryk is in the top 97 percentile for dribbles completed (FBref).

Having said that, Gunner is right that Arsenal have splashed the cash before on a winger that’s not worked out for them.

Nicolas Pepe cost the Gunners £72 million when he signed from LOSC Lille. He’s failed to deliver since joining in 2019, from 112 appearances, Pepe only has 27 goals and 21 assists.

Time will tell if Mudryk is destined for greatness or a player who’s peaked early. But it seems Arsenal will certainly be keeping a close eye on him.

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