Shakhtar Donetsk Director of Football, Darijo Srna, has described Mikhailo Mudryk as a ‘present’ who won’t be sold cheaply amid interest from Arsenal.
The Gunners explored the possibility of signing the Ukraine international in the summer with Mikel Arteta keen to add, by his own admission, more ‘firepower’ to his squad.
Arsenal were unable to agree a fee with Shakhtar, however, but made light of that blow by embarking on an unlikely title challenge.
Arteta’s side opened up a five-point lead over Manchester City prior to the World Cup break but the injury sustained by Gabriel Jesus while on international duty has exacerbated their need to invest in their forward line again.
Mudryk is valued at over £50million by his club and Shakhtar have again vowed to do their best to resist the overtures of Premier League giants interested in signing their prize asset.
Srna said: ‘Mudryk is a great talent. There have been no contacts with any club yet. If someone wants him, they will have to pay a lot of money. Mudryk is our present.’
Arsenal stepped up their preparations ahead of the domestic resumption later this month with a 3-0 win over Lyon in the Dubai Super Cup.
Eddie Nketiah, who is likely to deputise for Jesus, was among the scorers but Arteta refused to put a timescale on the Brazil international’s recovery.
He said: ‘We know that he needed some intervention in the knee. We’ll have to take it day by day, week by week and see [where] it takes us.
‘We look at the squad and we consider every option obviously, with the players that we have available. There are things that we can try if we have the need to do so.
‘What it affects is who we are as a team because he gives us so much, so what we can do after that, when we know the timescale [of his recovery] and when we can have him back, we will look at the options and try to make the right decision.’
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