Mykhaylo Mudryk has seemingly underlined his desire to join Arsenal after they submitted a fresh bid for the forward.
Shakhtar Donetsk are holding out for top dollar after revealing they were open to selling the 21-year-old. The Gunners have been the club most actively chasing the Ukrainian but have seen their opening offers knocked back. Shakhtar themselves want around £85m.
Arsenal have now submitted an offer of £62m plus add-ons, which would take the overall deal to around £70m. Mudryk himself is keen on a switch to north London and posted a cryptic story on his Instagram of two hands praying, as if to suggest he's hopeful a deal can be struck.
Personal terms are thought to have been negotiated with Mudryk agreeing to a five-year deal at the Emirates. Shakhtar have previously sold on top talents to sides in Europe's top leagues. The likes of Willian and Henrikh Mkhitaryan both made their name with the Ukrainian outfit.
Arsenal themselves want to bolster their options as they look to take advantage of their sensational start to the season. They sit top of the Premier League but, with a relatively thin squad, know they will need new recruits if they are to hold off any charge from Manchester City.
Mikel Arteta has largely deployed the same front three since the start of the season. Gabriel Jesus has led the line with Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli either side of him. Eddie Nketiah has come in for the injured Jesus, but it leaves Arsenal light in the final third.
Arteta has said on their January recruitment: "We knew the importance of getting players early in the summer and that is the same we want to do in January. This is idealistic. Sometimes it is not realistic. But obviously, if you ask my opinion, as quick as possible we want the players in to get settled.
"In this league with the competition, where the bar is and what the standards have been for the last four or five years - something the Premier League has not experienced in the past - we know that every point is going to be massively important."
He went on to add: "Can we afford not getting the player that we want? That is my question. We can afford to get a striker for sure if we want one, I don’t know if he plays in League Two, in League Five, in Spain, in Portugal, in Africa,
"We can get a striker I can guarantee you that. But what we can not afford to do is get a player here that is not for us. This is what we can not afford, that is for sure. We don’t need a body, we need players that make the team better. I think personalities that have the mentality that we want to win."
