After Mudryk, Arsenal DODGE another €80m BULLET

Carlo Garganese

• 25 Sep 2024 10:30 CDT
• 3 min read

Much has been said over the last 18 months on how Arsenal dodged a bullet when they missed out on the signing of Mykhailo Mudryk.

The Gunners had been in advanced talks to sign Mudryk from Shakhtar Donetsk in January 2023 when they were suddenly hijacked by Chelsea.

Mudryk instead joined Chelsea for €100 million, prompting much anger from Arsenal fans.

READ MORE: Arsenal top scorers 2024/25: Who is leading the club's goal rankings?

This hijack ended up being a blessing in disguise for Arsenal.

Mudryk has flopped badly at Stamford Bridge, managing just seven goals in 63 appearances amidst a string of terrible performances.

Widely mocked by fans, Mudryk is well down the pecking order at Stamford Bridge.

But Mudryk is not the only expensive flop signing that Arsenal were lucky to miss out on.

Dusan Vlahovic at Juventus

Back in the fall of 2021, Arsenal had made Dusan Vlahovic their number one striker target for the 2022 January transfer window.

At the time Vlahovic was considered the hottest young striking property in Europe after Erling Haaland, scoring a record 33 Serie A goals in the 2021 calendar year for Fiorentina.

Arsenal opened talks to sign Vlahovic and were confident of getting their man but were eventually beaten in the race by Juventus.

Vlahovic rejected a move to the Emirates in favour of joining Juventus for €80m from Fiorentina.

The Serbian arrived in Turin as one of the hottest properties in world football but has been a huge disappointment.

He scored just 14 goals in 42 games in his first full season and his overall game was equally disappointing last season despite finding the net 18 times in all competitions.

And this season, despite being under a new manager in the brilliant Thiago Motta, Vlahovic has continued to struggle badly.

He has scored in just one of the six games played and has been widely slammed by fans and the media.

Vlahovic has been mocked for his inability to play with his back to goal, his heavy first touch, his laboured movement and his inability to link up with his teammates.

Things really came to a head during the 0-0 draw with Napoli last weekend when Vlahovic was hauled off at half time by Motta after a dreadful first half performance.

He was taken off despite the fact that Motta had no other striker available to him, instead playing Tim Weah out of position in the second half.

It has now been suggested that Motta could play a false nine at the head of his 4-2-3-1 formation rather than persist with Vlahovic.

With a contract expiring in 2026, and with Vlahovic the highest-paid player in Serie A on €12m per season, his future in Turin is very much in doubt.

What isn’t in doubt is that, just like with Mudryk, Arsenal dodged another bullet.