Mudryk price tag proof Grealish and Antony have damaged transfer market

Stuart Telford

• Updated: 29 Dec 2022 22:16 GMT
• 3 min read

Arsenal have reportedly had a €62 million offer for Mykhailo Mudryk turned down by Shakhtar Donetsk. Jack Grealish and Antony have broken the market.

All three players are wingers, and impressive ones at that.

Mudryk has plundered 10 goals and eight assists from 18 games in all competitions this season, lighting up the Champions League with three and two in each column, and is understandably top of Arsenal's shopping list.

READ: Arsenal have €62m bid for Mudryk REJECTED: The state of play

But the market for elite wingers has skyrocketed in recent seasons. Grealish moved from Aston Villa to Manchester City at the start of last season for £100m (€118m) - a record for both clubs - while Manchester United paid Ajax an initial €95m for Antony with €5m to follow in August.

Arsenal's record transfer spend was the €80m paid to Lille for another winger, Nicolas Pepe, in August 2019, and it looks like they will need to smash through that barrier to acquire Mudryk.

'Closer to Grealish than to Antony'

"I can confirm that Arsenal are one of the most active teams," Shakhtar sporting director Carlo Nicolini told Calcio Mercato in his native Italy.

READ: Arsenal need 'active' January transfer window, says Arteta

"When somebody's interested we ask them to make an offer and then we start negotiating. As we've always said, to deal with Mudryk it must be an important offer. Arsenal may have made such an offer but there's a negotiation.

"There are players who have been sold for €100 million who we believe are no stronger than Mudryk, so €60m simply isn't enough. I'm not the one making the figure but it's important that the offer is closer to [Jack] Grealish than to Antony. An offer of €40m isn't even taken into consideration."

Mudryk has made it abundantly clear he wants to join Arsenal, going public with his desire to become a Gunner and regularly engaging with the club's posts on social media. But for him and Arsenal to get their way, serious money will have to exchange hands in an inflated market.