Arsenal wary of Pepe repeat with Mudryk

James Shearman

• Updated: 6 Jan 2023 16:18 GMT
• 3 min read

Arsenal have made Shakhtar Donetsk star Mykhailo Mudryk their primary transfer target in January and are determined to get the deal done.

The Gunners were heavily linked with signing him in the closing days of the summer window but the transfer never materialised.

The 21-year-old is considered one of the most exciting young wingers in Europe having burst onto the scene this year.

MORE: 10 players who could join Arsenal in January

Nicknamed "the Ukrainian Neymar" by fans, he has been flirting with Arsenal continuously since the summer.

Mudryk has also received interest from Chelsea but they are in a much worse position in the Premier League under Graham Potter.

But Arsenal are having second thoughts about Mudryk, according to the Telegraph, as they previously overspent on Nicolas Pepe.

Nicolas Pepe's Arsenal career

Much of Arsenal’s history in the Premier League has been defined by wide players proving to be the difference makers in key games.

So when the club made Nicolas Pepe their record signing in 2019 for a fee of £72m fans were understandably delighted and excited to see what he could do.

Pepe arrived from Lille with the reputation of being a free-scoring wide player that could create goals just as easily as he could score them.

However, the reality of the situation was very different to the hopes and dreams of the Arsenal faithful.

While Pepe had indeed scored 22 goals for Lille in the league the previous season, few had bothered to mention that almost half that tally came from the penalty spot until the player was halfway through his first campaign in the English top flight.

In his first season at Arsenal, Pepe managed just five goals and six assists in 31 league games. He did slightly better in his second campaign.

But he hit just three goals in his third season and Arsenal all but gave up on him, loaning him back to France with Nice in 2022-23.