Arsenal's transfer plans for the January transfer window have been long in the works behind-the-scenes for some time following their monumental rise to the top of the Premier League table. Mikel Arteta has thoroughly stamped his mark on the football club and it's set to continue.
It's understood that technical director Edu and Arteta have outlined a new winger and central midfielder as the two priorities ahead of the January transfer window. Shakhtar Donetsk's Mykhaylo Mudryk and PSV Eindhoven's Cody Gakpo have been heavily linked with a move to the Emirates Stadium after their respective first half of the season.
Despite reports previously claiming that Shakhtar had slapped a €100million (£87.6million) price tag on their star man, the Gunners were handed a much-welcomed boost when the Mirror claimed the Ukrainian side had privately reduced their asking price to £40million.
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And if Edu wasn't eager enough to meet the asking price of Mudryk, he's likely to be now after Gabriel Jesus' unfortunate injury. The striker will miss the rest of the World Cup after sustaining a knee injury in the 1-0 defeat to Cameroon in their final group game.
football.london understands that the 25-year-old has been ruled out for three to four weeks after scans detected an injury. Assuming the reports are correct, Jesus would miss at least the Gunners' return to football against West Ham on Boxing Day.
Whilst there is hope of him returning throughout January, his absence will be a massive loss for Arteta and will increase the requirement for a new attacker in the January transfer window - meaning a move for Mudryk may come sooner rather than later. Gakpo is attracting interest elsewhere and has previously admitted talking to Manchester United in the summer, but Mudryk has certainly not played down the prospect of the move.
After openly discussing his desire to play in the Premier League in September, Mudryk has been cited by the Metro admitting he would prefer a move to the Emirates Stadium rather than the Bernabeu and Madrid, he said: "From a purely hypothetical perspective if there was the option of being a bench player for Real Madrid or a starter for Arsenal, I'd probably choose Arsenal.
"But it's a tough question and involves a lot of factors in my answer. I would first want to know from the head coach that even if I wasn't a guaranteed starter, that I'd receive a chance. Essentially I need to hear directly from the manager what he envisages my role in his side to be."
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