Arsenal chief Vinai Venkatesham explained the club’s contingency plan if their pursuit of Mykhailo Mudryk falls through.
The Gunners have targeted a new forward in the January transfer window to consolidate their place at the top of the Premier League. A need for attacking options has also been sharpened by the injury sustained by Gabriel Jesus while at the World Cup with Brazil.
Indeed, the club have identified Mudryk as their No.1 target and have already had two bids worth up to £62million for the player rebuffed.
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The Gunners are said to be over £20million short of Shakhtar Donetsk's asking price, with the Ukrainian giants having publicly stated they would accept a bid in the region of £88million for the winger.
The transfer saga has taken several twists and turns, and while the 22-year-old has expressed a desire to join the Premier League table toppers, it is uncertain whether an agreement will be reached before the deadline.
Arsenal chief makes transfer promise
Arsenal’s CEO Venkatesham insisted the club were prepared should the Mudryk transfer fail to materialise.
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While Gunners boss Mikel Arteta would be happy with his squad should Mudryk not join, Venkatesham claimed that a long term had been mapped out to strengthen the team.
Speaking to Sky Sports the Arsenal chief said: "We’ve got a very clear plan, headed up by Edu, in terms of what we want to do to strengthen the squad.
"Every transfer window of course, we’re going to look to see what opportunities are out there.
"If something makes sense from a technical perspective and a financial perspective, of course, we’ll look at it but we’re happy with the squad that we’ve got.
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"We’ll have a look around like we do in every transfer window, but we’ve got a long-term plan to continue to strengthen the team.”
Featured Image Credit: AlamyTopics: Football, Arsenal, Mikel Arteta, Mykhaylo Mudryk, Transfers