Arsenal’s record spend for a player was back in 2019 when Unai Emery, Raul Sanllehi and the club invested in the region of £72million into Nicolas Pepe. The Ivorian arrived with a big reputation having taken Ligue 1 by storm, scoring 22 goals and recording 11 assists.
Upon his arrival at Arsenal, however, it became relatively clear that the transition from France to England wasn’t going smoothly. It took time to break into Emery’s team and then once Mikel Arteta was appointed it became even harder.
Pepe has since left on loan to Nice where he has been unable to recapture to ferocious form that earned him the club-record move. Many speculated that the price tag somewhat weighed on the player despite his own dismissals of this.
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Arsenal are reluctant to make their latest wide transfer target face the same pressure. Mykhaylo Mudryk continues to be linked with a move and after an initial £55million bid was rejected, the club have since returned with an improved offer.
However, this still falls well below the record investment for Pepe. football.london understands this is certainly intentional and despite the public price tag of €100million (£88.2million) from Shakhtar Donetsk, there’s optimism a compromise will be found.
The fees being discussed still remain very sizeable. Mudryk has played no more than eight matches competitively for Ukraine's senior side whilst just 38 Ukrainian Premier League appearances have been recorded as well.
Many witnessed the rise of Mudryk in the Champions League where he shone in the Bernabeu and was substituted to applause from the Real Madrid home support. He scored Shakhtar's goals in both 1-1 draws with Celtic, in addition to earning a goal and two assists in the 4-1 away win over RB Leipzig.
In this competition, Shakhtar played more so on the counterattack during the games, only gaining more possession than their opponents once over the six games. Typically, Arsenal do not play this type of style although when the opportunity presents can themselves be dangerous on the counter – for example, watch back Gabriel Martinelli’s goal against Brighton on New Year's Eve.
Due to this, many have questioned whether Mudryk can adapt to playing in a side which has typically more possession and dominance over their opponents in addition to having to face sides that defend deeper in what is often labelled a 'low block'. This is quite regularly regarded as one of the primary reasons why Pepe failed at the club and some fear investing heavily again in a player not necessarily suited to the system will see yet another waste of money.
There are, thankfully, two misconceptions. Firstly, outside of the Champions League Shakhtar Donetsk are one of the most dominant teams in their league.
They have averaged 62.84% possession in the Ukrainian Premier League this season compared to the 43.73% in the Champions League. This is slightly down on the record for the previous season in which Mudryk had his breakout year and saw an average possession of 68.05%.
In the 12 games so far in 2022/23, Mudryk has seven goals and six assists. In none of these matches were Shakhtar relying on a counterattacking style; they recorded a superior possession statistic in all of them.
The second misconception comes from Arsenal’s own opponents this season. Very few sides, if any, have played a deep block against the Gunners, and those that were suffocated of possession like Bournemouth, Nottingham Forest and Brentford were broken down with good movement, passes and clinical finishing.
Granted, perhaps if the Gunners continue this fine form, teams might set up in a more defensive manner. But the progression of the Premier League leaves very few sides who don't try to test their opponents. There will be plenty of opportunity for Mudryk to exploit space and utilise his rapid pace.
However, Mudryk also has great feet, an eagerness to create chances and press. The 'low block' concern need not be one that should undermine the desire to invest big in who could potentially be one of the biggest talents on the continent.
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