Mykhaylo Mudryk has appeared to show his desperation to join Arsenal by liking a meme which depicts him locked inside the prison of Shakhtar Donetsk.
Arsenal are locked in talks to sign Mudryk, but the picture has been complicated in the past few days by Chelsea ’s interest in the 21-year-old winger. Mirror Football understands that the Blues remain hopeful of hijacking the transfer and have spoken with Shakhtar chief executive Sergei Palkin.
Shakhtar are sticking to their £85million valuation and have already rejected an initial bid of £55m from Arsenal. The Gunners have since returned with an improved second bid of around £60m, but that is also expected to be pushed back.
The Ukrainian club have sent director of football Darijo Srna to London – and it appears clear what outcome Mudryk wants from the transfer talks. He has been clear about his admiration for Arsenal over the past few weeks and his Instagram activity hints that he is growing frustrated with the speed of negotiations.
Mudryk has liked a post by an account called ‘arsenal memes’ which shows him stuck behind bars in front of a Ukraine flag and the Shakhtar club crest. The picture is captioned “#freemudryk”.
It is the latest in a series of hints dropped by Mudryk that he wants to join Arsenal this month. The winger watched Arsenal’s 4-2 win over Brighton last week and let his followers know his thoughts on Mikel Arteta.
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He posted a picture of his screen on Instagram, along with the caption “2 top coach”. The words referred to Arsenal’s Arteta and Brighton’s Roberto De Zerbi, who he worked under at Shakhtar last year.
Murdryk has also used his Instagram to share a compilation video showing his best goals and skills of 2022. The video was set to the song ‘Circo Loco’ by 21 Savage and Drake, which includes the lyrics: “Still gotta see the Gunners win Premier League.”
"I think every guy dreams about the Premier League,” he recently told CBS. “Arsenal is a very good team with a very good coach. I like the way they play. Yes, it would be hard to say no from my side, I can't say no but the transfer is not only my decision and my word."
Mudryk has been scouted by a whole host of Europe’s top clubs after netting 11 goals and providing eight assists in all competitions this campaign. He has impressed in the Champions League, where he scored three goals in the group stages.
Arsenal are eager to strengthen their squad in the January transfer window to maintain their form at the top of the Premier League. The Gunners are prioritising attacking reinforcements, with Gabriel Jesus sidelined with a serious knee injury picked up at the World Cup.
