Shakhtar Donetsk director Darijo Srna has revealed that Arsenal would have to pay a minimum of around £100m to sign Ukrainian winger Mykhaylo Mudryk.
The 21-year-old has been strongly linked with a January move to the Emirates stadium, with Mikel Arteta keen to add firepower to his squad, but he will not come cheaply.
Arsenal are currently five points clear at the top of the Premier League, having lost just one league game all season, but face a tough battle to stave off the threat of champions Manchester City.
Srna has revealed that the club rate the winger so highly that they would want a similar price to what City paid Aston Villa for Jack Grealish, which was a fee of around £100m.
Speaking to Marca, as quoted by Fabrizio Romano, Srna claimed that Mudryk is on a similar level of ability to the England international, and should therefore command a similar price.
“Who wants to sign Mudryk has to pay big amount of money — otherwise our president will not sell him,” Srna claimed.
TIF thoughts on Mudryk and Arsenal…
It is hard to see Arsenal spending that kind of money in January, on a talented but unproven attacker, particularly given that he plays in the same position as Gabriel Martinelli.
However, with Gabriel Jesus picking up a long-term injury in the World Cup, we feel Arsenal need some more options upfront, and despite being a winger, the Ukraine international has the attributes to play upfront.
With 10 goals and eight assists in 18 matches this season, he has displayed incredible end product both domestically and in the Champions League and can bring extra dynamism to an already flourishing Arsenal front line.
Arsenal’s unexpected title challenge may mean that the club gamble on such a high fee, in the hope that his arrival can give them an additional boost for the second half of the season, and if he settles quickly, he could potentially help win the club their first League title since 2004.