MYKHAILO MUDRYK was alleged to have been called every day by Mikel Arteta and defender Oleksandr Zinchenko in order to convince him to move to Arsenal.
The Ukrainian winger, however, joined London rivals Chelsea in an £88million deal.
It had been expected that the ex-Shakhtar Donetsk man would join the Gunners, until the Blues hijacked the deal.
Shakhtar CEO Sergei Palkin has since claimed that Arsenal had tried to convince Mudryk to join long before they contacted the club.
He told The Athletic: “Arsenal contacted the player almost one-and-a-half months before they contacted us.
“Can you imagine, for example, to have Mikel Arteta, Oleksandr Zinchenko and the sporting director calling you?
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“To have Arsenal calling you almost every day, every two days, every three days?
“You can want or not want the move, but you follow this kind of reception and contacts.”
Mudryk did seem like his heart was set on a move to Arsenal as he regularly posted hints about a move on his social media.
However, he opted for Chelsea and was unveiled to the crowd at Stamford Bridge while draped in a Ukrainian flag.
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Arsenal have now moved on to other transfer targets as they look to strengthen their forward line for the remainder of the season.
One target the club is in talks for is Brighton’s Leandro Trossard.
The Belgian winger has fallen out of favour at the Amex Stadium and has been a long-term target of the Gunners.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
