Transfer Centre

Shakhtar Donetsk director demands Grealish-like money for Arsenal target Mudryk

By Ben Knapton, Senior Reporter | 28 December 2022

Shakhtar director demands Grealish-like money for Arsenal target Mudryk

Shakhtar Donetsk vice sporting director Carlo Nicolini warns Arsenal that they will need to pay Jack Grealish-type money to sign Mykhaylo Mudryk.

Shakhtar Donetsk director Carlo Nicolini has insisted that Arsenal must fork out a similar amount of money to what Manchester City paid for Jack Grealish in order to sign Mykhaylo Mudryk.

The 21-year-old is believed to be the Gunners' number one target for the January window and was recently the subject of a €65m (£57.4m) bid from Mikel Arteta's side, who offered €40m (£35.3m) up front and another €25m (£22.1m) in add-ons.

However, Shakhtar quickly rejected Arsenal's opening offer, but the two parties are understood to remain in talks over a move, which Mudryk is very keen on.

Shakhtar director Darijo Srna has frequently affirmed that his side would demand a nine-figure sum to sell Mudryk, and vice sporting director Nicolini has adopted a similar approach.

Comparing the amount of money Man City and Manchester United paid for Grealish (£100m) and Antony (£85m) respectively, Nicolini affirmed that his side were aiming to fetch a fee in line with the former's price tag.

Mykhailo Mudryk celebrates scoring for Shakhtar Donetsk on September 14, 2022 © Reuters

"Players have been sold that the clubs wanted to sell and that we believe are no stronger than Mudryk with a valuation of around 100 million, so we consider 60m euros few," Nicolini told Calciomercato.

"Our sporting director said that, to sell Mudryk, we need an offer closer to Grealish than Antony. We're not even considering a bid with €40m (£35.3m) as fixed fee."

Mudryk has attracted admirers across Europe after scoring 10 goals and setting up eight more in 18 games for Shakhtar this term, including three goals and two assists from six Champions League outings.

The Ukraine international is not due to become a free agent until December 2026, and he has a total of 12 goals and 17 assists to boast from 44 outings in a Shakhtar shirt since earning promotion to the senior squad.

Mudryk kept a close eye on Arsenal's Premier League Boxing Day clash with West Ham United - posting on social media that he was watching the game, which the Gunners won 3-1 after going a goal down.

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta pictured on December 17, 2022 © Reuters

Arsenal boss Arteta was asked about the prospect of a deal for Mudryk in his post-match press conference, and while the Spaniard was pleased to hear of Mudryk watching the game, he remained tight-lipped transfer-wise.

"You know that I never speak about players who are not with us. I understand that you have to ask me the question. We said that we will try and find ways to strengthen the team [if] we find the right players and that's what I can say," Arteta told reporters.

"The good thing in England is that you don't have many other matches in other countries at Christmas so hopefully a lot of people watched our game and we gave them a good show."

Arsenal could be without Gabriel Jesus until March after the Brazilian's recent knee surgery, but Gabriel Martinelli, Bukayo Saka and Eddie Nketiah all found the target in Monday's win over West Ham.

That London derby success saw Arsenal open up a seven-point lead over Newcastle United at the top of the Premier League table, but that gap could be cut down to five points if Manchester City overcome Leeds United on Wednesday night.