Arsenal's pursuit of Shakhtar Donetsk's Ukrainian youngster Mykhaylo Mudryk continues to burn on in the January window.
The forward burst onto the scene at the start of this season with some incredible performances in the Champions League. Two goals in two against Celtic was followed by another strike and two assists against RB Leipzig in performances which turned heads in the Premier League.
Clubs across Europe were alerted to Mudryk with Arsenal and Chelsea both taking a keen interest in his services. Arsenal, who lost Gabriel Jesus to a three-month injury at the World Cup, need backup for Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli as they battle Manchester City for the title.
READ MORE: Arsenal full list of ins and outs for 2023 January transfer window
There are less than three weeks until the window closes, and fans are beginning to grow slightly anxious as to whether a deal will be completed or not - especially with an incredibly tough run of fixtures coming up until the end of February. football.london takes a look at all the latest transfer updates surrounding the 22-year-old and his potential move to the Emirates.
Latest hint
Mudryk has dropped a series of hints about a transfer, making no secret of his admiration for Arsenal and his social media activity has once again provided excitement for Arsenal fans.
On his latest Instagram story, Mudryk appears to be watching a YouTube video which also appears to show him wearing an Arsenal shirt in an edited picture.
Arsenal chief update
Arsenal chief executive Vinai Venkatesham was present at a media event unveiling new artwork at the Emirates Stadium and provided a key update in an interview with CNN. However, as has been the case throughout the transfer negotiations, the club representative remained tight lipped on speculation.
He told the interviewer: "Well you will not be surprised to hear that I’m not going to talk about individual players," He added. "But of course, we are in a transfer window at the moment, Edu Gaspar has a long-term plan around how we want to strengthen our squad and whenever a transfer window is open, there’s an opportunity for us and of course we are always looking to see if there’s an opportunity that makes sense for us. If an opportunity makes sense for us, we will do it and January is no different from any other transfer window."
Shakhtar Steel
Despite Arsenal's obvious buying power, and the strength of the Premier League finances in comparison with those of the Ukrainian Premier League, Shakhtar are adamant they won't sell for cheap.
Fabrizio Romano has stated that the Ukrainian champions had the same stance with Everton back in the summer transfer window, who were keen on buying him for £30million before the hype around his transfer had taken off. Perhaps a tricky customer to deal with if they aren't willing to accept double that just six months later.
Armchair fan
Many across the world tuned in to Arsenal's game against West Ham on Boxing Day, with many families and fans enjoying the time off at Christmas to watch the festive football and, more importantly, see the Gunners extend their lead at the top of the Premier League table.
Mudryk was one of those, too. He posted a picture of the 3-1 win on his Instagram story, much to the adoration of the Gunners support. Whether that was a 'come and get me plea' is only known to him, but the signs were fairly ominous.
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