While the speculation rages like a wildfire, no one could ever accuse Mykhaylo Mudryk of letting all that the attention go to his head.
“There are many English candidates. There is a Spanish (club), a French (club),” Shakthar Donetsk’s deputy vice chairman Carlo Nicolini tells Calciomercato.
Arsenal and Manchester City? They are two teams that have taken an interest in the player. But there are also other clubs that can spend right away. We do not have to sell. In this team, he is the most decisive. If you want to sign players who make a difference at top clubs, you also need the right money.”
And ‘make a difference’ Mudryk certainly does. With yet another strike during Saturday’s 2-2 draw with FC Olexandriya, this jet-heeled blonde became the first Shakhtar player since 2019 to find the net in four successive matches across all competitions.
He’s scored five goals in that spell. Including a laser-guided missile which whistled past Joe Hart during last week’s 1-1 Champions League group-stage draw in Glasgow.
Suddenly, suggestions that Mudryk might be the third-best left winger in Europe behind only Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius Jr – claims made by Shakhtar director Darijo Srna – do not seem quite so outlandish.
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“Is 40 million euros enough to buy him? We do not answer to these figures,” Nicolini adds. “Not even for fifty. We value Mudryk more than Manchester United’s Antony, who cost 100 million euros (£85 million).”
With the January transfer window now just two months away, we can cross many a name off the list of clubs who could genuinely afford to sign a player destined to become Shakhtar’s most expensive-ever export.
The likes of Leeds United, Brighton and Brentford (who Mudryk turned down over the summer) would be barking up the wrong tree. Everton had a £25 million bid rejected and will now need to quadruple that to twist Shakhtar’s arm.
The Sun, meanwhile, claims that Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta will be backed by a January budget of £50 million. A sizeable warchest, yes, but no longer enough to buy even Mudryk’s right boot.
Could Newcastle United use such an opportunity to show off their new-found financial riches, so soon after paying a club-record fee for Alexander Isak? i News believe that Newcastle are willing to spend around £50 million on Mudryk, but the winger’s price-tag has almost doubled since then.
A few more goals between now and January and Mudryk won’t just be Shakhtar’s most expensive ever player. He’ll be one of the most expensive in the whole of European football.
