Exclusive: Arsenal in contact with those close to attacker over exciting potential transfer

Arsenal are in contact with those close to Mykhaylo Mudryk and “love” the player, according to Fabrizio Romano in his exclusive Daily Briefing for CaughtOffside.

The Ukraine international has enjoyed an outstanding season for Shakhtar Donetsk, establishing himself as one of the most exciting young players in Europe and even drawing comparisons with Paris Saint-Germain and Brazil superstar Neymar.

Arsenal would surely do well to land Mudryk this January, and Romano has confirmed some form of talks going on, though he adds that there’s not been an official bid to Shakhtar just yet.

The Gunners are short of quality in attack right now after the injury to Gabriel Jesus, and Romano has suggested they’ll prioritise a new signing in that area as they’re not currently looking into recalling young striker Folarin Balogun from his loan with Reims.

“I can reveal that Arsenal are considering a new signing because of the Gabriel Jesus injury being more serious than initially expected. However, Folarin Balogun is expected to continue his loan season at Reims, as things stand,” Romano explained.

“The Mykhaylo Mudryk situation is still the same: Arsenal are in contact with people close to the deal and they love the player, but there’s no official bid to Shakhtar yet.

“If he joins, it would be interesting to see if he could be deployed as a direct replacement for Jesus, or if Arteta would move Gabriel Martinelli into the middle. Either way, it would be a good problem to have!”

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Arsenal are currently five points clear at the top of the Premier League table, but they could do with improving their squad depth if they are to stay ahead of Manchester City over the course of a long and gruelling season.

The injury to Jesus has exposed their lack of backup options, so a signing like Mudryk could make all the difference in the coming months.