Shakhtar set price for Arsenal target Mudryk
Arsenal have been named among the clubs credited with interest in the services of Shakhtar Donetsk winger Mykhaylo Mudryk, and they won’t have liked the recent words of the Ukrainian club’s Director of Football Darijo Srna, who has dropped a hint that there might be no sale for anything under €100 million.
As relayed by The Athletic journalist Adam Crafton, Srna compared the quality and the value of Mudryk with that of Jack Grealish of Manchester City, as well as Manchester United newcomer Antony.
“If somebody wants to buy Mudryk, they must pay huge, huge, huge money,” the former Croatia defender said.
“Otherwise the president of the club (Rinat Akhmetov) will not sell him. All the clubs must respect the President, respect Shakhtar and in the end they must respect Mykhaylo Mudryk, who is one of the best players I saw. The price is so big.”
“The market is deciding the price — not me. Antony, Grealish, they are players of more than €100m and for me, Mudryk does not have less quality than them. This is the last two transfers in the past year, in more or less the same positions. Sancho from Borussia Dortmund. We want just respect. The market is deciding the price, not me, it shows which kind of players cost this kind of money.”
Mudryk, 21, earned first-team promotion at Shakhtar in the summer of 2021, and he’s so far made a total of 42 appearances in all competitions for the Ukrainian club, scoring 10 goals and providing 17 assists. The eight-cap Ukraine international is obviously a player of vast talent, and Srna apparently believes only PSG star Kylian Mbappe and Real Madrid’s Vinicius Junior are currently better prospects.
Be that as it may, it remains to be seen what happens with Mudryk and just how glittering his career becomes, but for Arsenal, the price of €100m for a player still with a lot to prove is likely to prove a considerable obstacle.
