Arsenal's reward for topping their Europa League group is a bye to the round of 16 stage which means they will avoid two extra games when the competition resumes next month.
The north London outfit will discover their opponents after the Europa League knockout play-off round ties - which include Barcelona vs Manchester United and Bayer Leverkusen vs AS Monaco - have been concluded as the draw is scheduled to take place on February 24.
Furthermore, as Arsenal will be seeded, they can only face one of the eight unseeded knockout round play-off winners. Although, they can't face PSV Eindhoven having been in the same group or Manchester United as they are from the same national association. Of course, that's if both teams progress.
READ MORE: Mykhaylo Mudryk deadline for Arsenal debut vs Tottenham revealed if £88m transfer is completed
And by the time that round of 16 tie comes around in March, the Gunners' squad could look a lot different in comparison to what was at Mikel Arteta's disposal for the group phase as he will be permitted to submit a new list a couple of days after the January transfer window closes.
As things stand, Mykhaylo Mudryk appears to be closing in on a move to the Emirates Stadium with recent reports claiming that Arsenal are close to a breakthrough over an £88m deal after seeing an opening offer - believed to be in the region of £55m including add-ons rejected by Shakhtar Donetsk.
Having netted 11 times in 19 appearances across all competitions so far this season, in addition to weighing in with eight assists, it's easy to see why the 22-year-old is a priority signing for Arteta as his forward options could do with freshening up after losing Gabriel Jesus and Reiss Nelson to injury.
Now, if the two clubs can reach an agreement over the transfer fee and Mudryk does sign for the Gunners at some point this month, then he can be registered in their Europa League squad. In addition, he could even face the Ukrainian outfit in the competition as they've been drawn against Rennes in the knockout round play-off.
Despite the fact Mudryk featured for Shakhtar in the Champions League group phase, he would still be permitted to play for the Gunners from the round of 16 and onwards in the Europa League if he was to seal a big-money transfer in the upcoming January window.
This is because the ruling states: 'As of the round of 16, a club may register a maximum of three new eligible players for the remaining matches in the current competition. Such registration must be completed by 2 February 2023 (24.00CET) at the latest. This deadline cannot be extended.
'Any or all of the players from the above quota of three may have been fielded for another club in the qualifying phase, play-offs or group stage of the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League or UEFA Europa Conference League.'
Of course, this scenario would not have been possible in the 2017/18 season - something which came back to haunt the north London outfit after signing Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang - as since the 2018/2019 campaign, the player registration restrictions in European competitions have been lifted, and it will benefit Arteta's side should they sign Mudryk.
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