Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta is pushing to make a double transfer move this month as he bids to strengthen his squad for their Premier League title challenge.
The Gunners sit five points clear of Manchester City at the top of the table, having lost just once all season. But Arteta's squad does appear at risk of becoming overwhelmed if injury hits, something the Spaniard is seeking to address in the January window.
His top target remains Mykhailo Mudryk, though their battle with Chelsea for the Shakhtar Donetsk winger is intensifying. The Gunners are thought to have already seen two bids rejected by the Ukrainian Premier League side.
According to the Daily Telegraph, the Gunners remain keen on signing the winger, despite those rejections. But it is said they will refuse to be drawn into a bidding war with Premier League rivals Chelsea.
They remain 'confident' of bringing the 22-year-old to the Emirates Stadium and are said to believe Mudryk is keen on joining them. They are pushing hard to finally wrap up a deal for the Shakhtar star amid increasing competition from the Blues.
Graham Potter's side are also eyeing Mudryk, with chiefs at Stamford Bridge said to believe they can outbid Arsenal. The Gunners have indicated they are ready to offer more than £55million to the Ukrainian side, having seen a bid of that amount turned down.
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Shakhtar have valued their star winger at around £88m, following big-money deals that saw Jack Grealish joining Manchester City and Antony move to Manchester United. But the failed signing of Nicolas Pepe is leaving Arsenal wary of shelling out a major fee.
Mudryk is not the only player Arteta is pushing to sign this month, with the Gunners ready to back their manager. Joao Felix is another player who has risen to the top of his shopping list.
The Portugal international is ready to leave Atletico Madrid, with the LaLiga side also happy to let him go. That will only be on loan though, with Atletico not yet ready to let him depart permanently.
The Telegraph report that Arsenal are stepping up their pursuit of the 23-year-old, with Arteta hopeful of signing both him and Mudryk. It is expected to take a total of £16m to sign him, with £13m of that being a loan fee for Atletico and £3m being in wages.
The size of that loan fee could be a roadblock to a deal though, with that price set to determine whether they push through with signing him. Despite his struggles at Atletico, signing Felix would still be somewhat of a coup, with United also interested in him.
While Arteta appears keen to sign Felix, former Liverpool star Steve Nicol has already warned him to abandon his chase for the 23-year-old amid concerns over what his arrival would mean for the wider squad.
"If you do bring a Joao Felix in, for example, he’s not coming there to sit on the bench. You can't not play Martinelli, you can't not play Saka. Do you play Felix through the middle? It's such a fine balancing act," Nicol told ESPN last week.
"I think of Newcastle back in the 90s when they signed Tino Asprilla. And it completely messed everything up. The way they were playing was similar to Arsenal. And then, when they made that change, it kind of fell apart."
