Director of Football sends message to Newcastle United & Arsenal - demands ‘huge, huge money’

Shakhtar Donetsk are set to demand ‘huge, huge money’ for reported Newcastle United target Mykhaylo Mudryk.
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Shakhtar Donetsk director of football Darijo Srna has told Newcastle United and Arsenal they must smash their transfer record to land Mykhaylo Mudryk.

The 21-year-old has emerged as one of Europe’s greatest talents over the last 12 months following his breakthrough season at the Ukrainian champions.

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This campaign alone, Mudryk has scored eight goals and provided eight assists in just 16 appearances, which had attracted interest from clubs across Europe, including Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain.

Newcastle and Arsenal are also believed to be keeping tabs on the Ukraine international, however, Srna has warned it’ll take “huge, huge money” for Shakhtar to sell.

Specifically, Srna referenced Antony and Jack Grealish’s hefty price tags in recent windows, insisting that Mudryk “does not have less quality than them”.

That hints at a price tag of £87.5million - a figure that would force United to break the club-record fee they paid to sign Alexander Isak from Real Madrid last summer.

Shakhtar Donetsk forward Mykhaylo Mudryk. (Photo by JAVIER SORIANO/AFP via Getty Images)Shakhtar Donetsk forward Mykhaylo Mudryk. (Photo by JAVIER SORIANO/AFP via Getty Images)
Shakhtar Donetsk forward Mykhaylo Mudryk. (Photo by JAVIER SORIANO/AFP via Getty Images)

Shakhtar DOF sets out his demands

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“If somebody wants to buy Mudryk, they must pay huge, huge, huge money,” Srna told the Athletic. “Otherwise the president of the club (Rinat Akhmetov) will not sell him.

“All the clubs must respect the President, respect Shakhtar and in the end they must respect Mykhaylo Mudryk, who is one of the best players I saw. The price is so big.

“The market is deciding the price - not me. Antony, Grealish, they are players of more than €100m and for me, Mudryk does not have less quality than them. This is the last two transfers in the past year, in more or less the same positions. Sancho from Borussia Dortmund. We want just respect.

“The market is deciding the price, not me, it shows which kind of players cost this kind of money.”

Mudryk has already mentioned Arsenal

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A further blow to Newcastle is Mudryk told Ukrainian presenter Vlada Zinchenko he’d prefer a move to Arsenal - rather than be a bench player at somewhere like Real Madrid.

He said: “I follow Arsenal closely, they’re a very dynamic side. One surprise for me was how many Arsenal fans followed me. No other club’s fans have interacted as much as them. They always tell me: ‘come to us!’

“From a purely theoretical-fantasy 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 I’d first want to know from the head coach that I’d receive a chance.”

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