Mkykailo Mudryk isn’t coming to Arsenal but while Arsenal fans have the right to feel hurt after hoping to get a player all over them only to watch him join their rival, they also need to realize that it has become an awkward deal, when a player with €40 million valuation is set to cost around €100 million.
The market is already inflated but the fact that Cody Gakpo joined Liverpool in the transfer window for less that £60 million makes €100 million for Mudryk ridiculous and Arsenal were not helped by interest from willing spenders, Chelsea.
Any hopes of Arsenal signing Mudryk died the moment Chelsea became serious about the deal given the financial buoyancy of the Todd Boehly owned club.
They’ll offer wages that if Arsenal tried to match, it will upset their wage structure. They can give more bonus to the player’s agent and also offer more money to Shakhtar Donesk with better payment structure.
Given Chelsea’s current situation, Mudryk will also get more play time there because at the moment, almost every new player that comes in to the club will slot into the starting XI, that’s how bad the team currently is.
But at Arsenal, he’ll surely not be an undisputed starter, the otherwise which might have made the deal worth it but he’ll be coming in as a player still growing and albeit he might get more chances before Gabriel Jesus returns, chances will be minimal after that.
Even with Jesus currently out, Eddie Nketiah has proven to be a worthy option in the No.9 role and Mikel Arteta will surely not be quick to take him out of the starting XI. Not even any manager will consider that if they care about the harmony in the group.
Mudryk is at the moment not going to start ahead of either of Arsenal’s two wingers but with time, he might. So why would a club sign a player for around €100m only for him to serve as backup to another ?
Think about Nicolas Pepe, who was made the club’s record signing after one outstanding season out of three with Lille in the Ligue 1. The aftermath is now not a fun memory for the club or even any Arsenal fan.
Arsenal are only €5 million off the valuation of Shakhtar but as seemingly small as it is, it would bring great complication to the project that is currently ongoing at the club.
Maybe now Chelsea will offer over €200,000 a week or even more, doing that at Arsenal will make him one of the highest earner at the club and they would need to offer more to the likes of Bukayo Saka, Martinelli and William Saliba before getting them to sign new contracts.
Whilst Arsenal are yet to get Gabriel Martinelli to sign a new contract, bringing in Mudryk will actually not help their cause since both will now have to compete and share the playtime, not forgetting Emile Smith Rowe is also high in the pecking order.
Emile is already a threat to Martinelli and once Mudryk joins with that much potential, it would surely have the Brazilian thinking twice before committing his future to the club on a long-term.
Gabriel Martinelli has already proven himself fit for the Mikel Arteta’s set up. Not forgetting he only cost the club around £6 million when he signed from Ituano in the summer of 2019.
Arsenal have missed out on one of the world best players in the near future in Mykhailo Mudryk but it is worth letting go, given the context surrounding the deal.
With €100m, Edu and Arteta should be targeting competition for Bukayo Saka and Thomas Partey and not for Gabriel Martinelli, whom they already have Emile Smith Rowe and maybe Reiss Nelson you might want to add as competition.
It is a big blow losing your major priority in a transfer window but Arsenal shouldn’t have made Mudryk theirs.
Author : Kehinde Hassan Afolabi
