ARSENAL have made a second bid for Shakhtar Donetsk winger Mykhailo Mudryk worth up to £62million.
But they are still haggling with the Ukrainian Champions over the amount of money they will have to pay upfront.
Shakhtar have made it clear that they want at least £50million guaranteed, with the rest of the fee paid in add-ons.
That is £12.5million more than Arsenal offered in their opening bid which was rejected last week.
But the Premier League leaders are confident that they can reach an agreement for the exciting wide player who celebrates his 22nd birthday on Thursday.
And they are looking to wrap up a deal before Mudryk is due to travel to Turkey next week for the start of Shakhtar’s mid-season training camp.
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Arsenal’s original offer was £37.5m with the potential for a further £17.5m in future bonus payments.
But cash-strapped Shakhtar do not want to wait for their money and are demanding the majority of any fee is guaranteed – irrespective of how Mudryk performs in the future.
And now that Shakhtar have lowered their original £85million asking price, Arsenal are happy to continue negotiating for a player who has made it clear that he wants to move to the Emirates.
Arsenal have been assured that they are the only club in the hunt for Mudryk but have been alerted to suggestions that Chelsea are considering a bid.
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With Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli both having started every Premier League game this season, manager Mikel Arteta is desperate to get Mudryk on board as quickly as possible to maintain his team’s Premier League title charge.
Arteta is keen to bring in attacking reinforcements following Gabriel Jesus’ knee surgery, which will keep him on the sidelines until March at the earliest.
The Spaniard said of Jesus’ injury: “It’s a huge blow for us, obviously.
“He’s such an important player: he’s brought something very different to the team and it’s impossible to replace him.
“But we have other players, other alternatives and we’ll try to get that sorted.
“The transfer window is another option.
“I think [Jesus] is a unique player but Eddie [Nketiah] has incredible qualities as well for the way we want to play.
“We have other alternatives in that we can play Martinelli up front as well.
“We are currently a little bit short in terms of upfront positions but getting Emile [Smith Rowe] back is going to be a big one.”
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
