"He is Arsenal’s priority target."@David_Ornstein has the latest on Arsenal's pursuit of Mykhaylo Mudryk as well as the futures of Jude Bellingham, Joao Felix and more…
🎙️ 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗔𝗧𝗛𝗟𝗘𝗧𝗜𝗖 𝗙𝗢𝗢𝗧𝗕𝗔𝗟𝗟 𝗣𝗢𝗗𝗖𝗔𝗦𝗧
— The Athletic | Football (@TheAthleticFC) December 12, 2022
Morning all.
The Mykhaylo Mudryk to Arsenal stories seem to be gathering pace. We’ve been linked with a wide player before, certainly last summer when Edu admitted Raphinha was of interest to Arsenal. That move didn’t materialise because the player wanted a move to Barcelona but unless Mikel Arteta has been super impressed with either Marquinhos or Reiss Nelson and truly believes either or both can give the team what Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli do, then I can’t see him ending his chase for a wide player. Mudryk is a goal scoring winger with 7 domestic goals and 3 in the Champions League so far this season. I’ve no idea if he’ll become an Arsenal player or if he does, he’ll hit the ground running in the Premier League but a January arrival would certainly give the team a lift.
Mentioning a Ukrainian winger in the same sentence as a Russian winger seems wrong with all that’s going on between the between the two countries, but I still remember the impact Andrey Arshavin had on the team back in January 2009. 12 games, 6 goals, a whole lot of energy and a player of the month award in April and May.
January isn’t the best time of the season to make signings because fees can be inflated but sometimes, needs must. Plus, there’s no pre season training so it’s straight in and get down to it. I think a new signing last January would have given us a better chance of securing top four and I think had Totts not made their winter signings, they might not have picked up the number of points they did. Bentancur and Kulusevski made a difference I think, whereas Arsenal suffered injury after injury.
It looks like Cedric Soares could be ready to move across London on a permanent move to Fulham in January. According to Sky Sports, Fulham wanted him back in the summer but were unsuccessful. I think the move would be good for all involved, especially the player as he’s not going to get much playing time for Arsenal. Well, not unless injuries hit us hard again.
Can we get through until the end of May with just Thomas Partey and Mo Elneny as the central midfield options, or, money permitting, ‘should’ Arsenal try to sign someone in that position next month? As suggested the other day, Youri Tielemans’ name has cropped up again but that’s probably old rumours recycled.
Mikel Arteta has said that ‘the club is active in the possibilities and if they can find a player who’ll strengthen the team, the club will try’.
I’m pretty sure he said something similar this time last year yet no-one arrived, but Arsenal weren’t sitting top of the league table a year ago with a really good chance of securing Champions League football for the first time in a while, the first time under Mikel Arteta. He’ll be desperate for us to achieve that I’m sure and I’d even go as far as to suggest that if he doesn’t, he’ll feel like he’s failed.
The World Cup is nearly over. Thank goodness for that! France will play Argentina at the weekend and then William Saliba will return to Arsenal. He’s barely played for France so he should be in good shape physically. I think all of our players have played less footballing minutes than they would have had there not been a World Cup so it’s not all bad news ahead of our Boxing Day fixture against West Ham which is just over a week away…
See you in the comments.
Good morning Rico, so the rumour mill grinds remorselessly on. Old ones, new ones and some as daft as a brush. Arsenal prepared to pay a 100 million pounds for one player? That’s truly something beyond the wildest realms of possibility in KSE’s world.
Morning Cicero, all.
I do think the club will sign one, perhaps two players next month but £100m on one, no chance.
Well, I know nothing concrete, but to me it seems like Mykhaylo has a super active PR team. But I would be seriously surprise if Arsenal would pay above 25M for the relatively untested Ukrainian winger, who is often referred next to flattering quotes, but ALL of them is coming from his own manager or club owner, so – like the proverbial moissanite – it worth f#ck all.
The Joao Felix is also bull, he is too expensive and demands to play every bloody game.
Well, if Arsenal were prepared to pay vast amounts for Raphinha, who’s to say they won’t pay big for the right player? Edu and Arteta might see Mudryk and/or Felix to be the perfect signing…
We did break the bank for one player, in January 1970 we bought Peter Marinello for the, then, record fee of £100,000. As a sort of comparison I had bought a new build three bedroom town house in East Grinstead two years previously for £6,500
A good comparison, oh to buy a house for that kind of money today. On today’s wages of course..
Afternoon Rico and all.
I can’t see KSE buying any Russian player at the moment no matter how good they are, as it would not be worth taking the chance or risk of upsetting our current players.
The other question is, if the player is not already playing in England, would he be given a work visa.
Hi Geoff, good job Mudryk is Ukrainian then. 😂
New post up.