Shakhtar Donetsk Sporting Director Darijo Srna has been pictured in a restaurant with Eduardo da Silva and Willian amid the race to sign Mykhaylo Mudryk. The 22-year-old has been heavily linked with an exit from the Ukrainian side, with both Arsenal and Chelsea eager to acquire his signature.
The Gunners made their first attempt to sign Mudryk less than a week before the January transfer window opened, football.london understands. Arsenal have monitored the winger for some time now as Mikel Arteta looks to bolster the north London side's frontline.
It's said that the Gunners submitted an official bid in the region of £55million including add-ons. But, Arsenal's offer falls short of the £80million asking price set by the Ukrainian side.
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The north Londoners reportedly face competition from rivals Chelsea for Mudryk, with Todd Boehly eager to bolster Graham Potter's strike force. The Blues have been heavily liked with moves for the likes of AC Milan star Rafael Leao and RB Leipzig talisman Christopher Nkunku - the latter of whom looks poised to arrive at Stamford Bridge in the summer.
With Arsenal and Chelsea both looking for an advantage in the race to sign the Ukraine international, Fulham star Willian has teased an intriguing hint. In a picture posted to the Brazilian's Instagram story, the former Gunner and Blues midfielder revealed that he enjoyed a catch-up with Shakhtar Donetsk chief Srna and Eduardo.
As pictured above, Willian wrote: "It was so good to see these guys."
Srna then reposted the 34-year-old's to his Instagram story. With a flexing-arm emoji and hammers emoji, he wrote: "Brothers."
Willian, Srna and Eduardo were teammates at Shakhtar Donetsk where they enjoyed great success among one another, including several Ukrainian Premier League titles, a couple Ukrainian Cups and a Ukrainian Super Cup. It remains to be seen whether the future of Mudryk was a topic of conversation amid interest from Arsenal and Chelsea.
Previously, Shakhtar's chief executive Sergei Palkin claimed he was unsure Mudryk would leave in January. He said: "To be honest, I do not know. At the moment, we are quite far from what we want and what clubs propose.
"It’s not so far but it is not what we need. We have discussions. One club, another club, they negotiate. We are in the process. Will it close this month? I don’t know. It is maybe 50-50 with regards to the winter transfer window. I don’t want to talk about figures now. We are in discussions. We have interest from some English clubs and we are in the process."
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