Arsenal’s three-man £50m January shortlist headed by Mudryk

Robin Bairner

• Updated: 23 May 2023 08:55 CDT
• 3 min read

Premier League leaders Arsenal are ready to strengthen their squad over the January transfer window, with a three-man transfer shortlist that is headed up by Shakhtar Donetsk sensation Mykhailo Mudryk.

Mikel Arteta and technical director Edu have reportedly been given a £50 million budget to spend, which could feasibly land them two of their three targets.

January is a notoriously difficult period in which to complete transfer deals, but the Gunners have proven over the last two summers that they are not afraid to be use their financial strength.

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In the summer of 2022, for example, they spent close to £120m recruiting Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko from Manchester City as well as Fabio Vieira (Porto), Matt Turner (New England) and Marquinhos (Sao Paulo).

It has been reported that a further £100m will be made available to the recruitment team in the summer, but the three players Arsenal are most interested in during the January transfer window, according to the Sun, are as follows:

Mykhailo Mudryk- Shakhtar Donetsk

One of the most talked about young players in European football presently, the winger has made his mark in the Champions League by scoring three goals and creating two more. His highlight was a brilliant strike against Celtic on Tuesday, in which he gave a superb performance.

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Although Shakhtar have spoken about a fee more than £87m (€100m), more realistically, a deal is thought possible around the £25m mark. There will be plenty of competition, with Newcastle among the teams also linked with him.

Yeremy Pino – Villarreal

Prodigiously talented winger, the 20-year-old famously rejected the opportunity to move to Barcelona in 2016 and instead completed a switch to the Yellow Submarine. It has proven to be an inspired decision, with the attacker now a regular in the Spain squad.

FootballTransfers values Pino at the £38m (€44m) mark, making him more expensive than Mudryk. In reality, Arsenal will seek to sign one or the other. Both make no sense.

Danilo – Palmeiras

Mikel Arteta has been seeking to strengthen his midfield options since the summer and could turn to 21-year-old Brazilian Danilo to do so. The Palmeiras player has fallen into the shade of 16-year-old team-mate Endrick a little in recent weeks, but remains one of the most coveted young players in Brazil, with numerous big clubs watching him.

It is reported Arsenal will launch a bid worth £26m for him, although FootballTransfers values the player at £29m (€33m).