Three cheaper alternatives to Mudryk for Arsenal

Robin Bairner

• Updated: 23 May 2023 09:00 CDT
• 3 min read

Arsenal are set to miss out on their leading January transfer target Mykhailo Mudryk, who is poised to join Chelsea for €100 million from Shakhtar Donetsk.

The Blues are set to overpay drastically for the 22-year-old, who still has under 50 senior appearances to his credit and has an unspectacular record in the first team, despite some impressive statistics in a depleted Ukrainian Premier League this season.

After Arsenal led the transfer race for months, they failed to match Chelsea’s valuation of the player, and now Mudryk has verbally agreed terms to move to the Blues, despite going strong on social media over his love of the Gunners.

MORE: Chelsea join Shakhtar in trolling Arsenal over Mudryk

Nevertheless, Arsenal’s refusal to be played for fools by Shakhtar means that they are still without the attacking options that Mikel Arteta craves.

With just over a couple of weeks left in the January transfer window, who could the Gunners potentially move for to fill the Mudryk-sized hole in their attack?

MORE: The five Arsenal players who could leave in January

Arsenal’s Mudryk alternatives

Firstly, let's assume that they want a player with similar attributes to Mudryk - strong passing, crossing and finishing - who plays with a similar style and is of a comparable age profile.

Rather than other wingers the Gunners have been linked with - for example, Wilfried Zaha - here are three stars with a similar comparable make up to Mudryk.

Samuel Chukwueze - Villarreal

The Nigeria international primarily operates off the right wing but is versatile enough to shift to the left. At 23 years old, he is impressing for Villarreal in Spain. This season, he has seven goals and six assists in 24 matches across four competitions.

Data analytics experts SciSports believe he is a player capable of going all the way to the top of the game in the right environment. Indeed, the belief is that he has a significantly higher ceiling than Mudryk.

FootballTransfers Valuation: €20 million

David Perreira da Costa - Lens

Lens are absolutely flying this season and one of the reasons has been the strong performance of attacking midfielder David Pereira da Costa, who missed the recent 3-1 win over PSG because of a minor injury.

Interestingly, he shares exactly the same birthday as Mudryk and boasts 60 senior appearances for a team that has been excelling in Ligue 1 lately. With just one goal and two assists this season, his performances have flown under the radar abroad, but he is highly thought of in France and it might be wise for the Gunners to get ahead of the curve by snapping him up for cheap.

The drawback? He more typically plays centrally than on the wing.

FootballTransfers Valuation: €5 million

Mikel Oyarzabal – Real Sociedad

The 25-year-old Real Sociedad star had a difficult 2022 that saw him laid up through injury for much of the year. A player with such pedigree that he has turned out for Spain on 21 occasions, he returned after an ACL rupture against Osasuna on New Year’s Eve.

He is a player with strong goalscoring pedigree off the left wing, having netted 10 goals in four successive seasons before finding the net nine times in 22 games before injury last time around.

Back fit, expect to see his name linked to some top clubs imminently.

FootballTransfers Valuation: €29 million