Arsenal battle Real Madrid to sign £85 million winger

Real Madrid might have let it go down to the wire, but ultimately, they did top their Champions League group by beating Celtic 5-1 at the Santiago Bernabeu. RB Leipzig won their game against Shakhtar Donetsk, with the German side securing second spot in the group as a result. The Ukrainian side will drop down to the Europa League while the Scottish champions are out of Europe altogether.

One of the finds of the Champions League this season is Shakhtar Donetsk’s Mykhailo Mudryk. The Ukrainian winger was already very highly rated coming into the season, but he has now proven his ability against top level opposition like Real Madrid, RB Leipzig and Celtic.

Real Madrid will know first hand what Mudryk is capable of. Even though he did not score or assist against the European champions, the 21-year-old did impress. According to stats from Transfermarkt, Mudryk scored 3 goals and provided 2 assists in his 6 Champions League appearances this season.

Thus, it is pretty clear that Mudryk is destined for big things and it seems to be a two-horse race between Real Madrid and Arsenal to sign him.

Real Madrid and Arsenal are the two teams in the race to sign Mudryk from Shakhtar

As reported by HITC, Igor Tsyganyk told Football Hub:

"“Real Madrid are really interested in him. Really.“Arsenal also. There has also been some contact and there are some informal conversations with the club.“In addition, as far as I understand, Shakhtar are seriously considering the option of renewing Mudryk’s contract. There are three real options; Arsenal, Real Madrid and a new contract at Shakhtar.”"

Thus, it is safe to say that the transfer race to sign Mudryk is heating up and it is not hard to understand why considering how good he was in the Champions League group stage.

It remains to be seen if other clubs end up entering the race to sign Mudryk from Shakhtar, but at the moment, it looks like the two teams at the front of the line are Real Madrid and Arsenal.

While remaining at Shakhtar Donetsk has not been ruled out, it seems an unlikely route if clubs of that calibre come calling for Mudryk’s signature.