In accordance with Sky Sports, Arsenal have been advised by Shakhtar Donetsk they would have to cough up £30million to guarantee the services of defender Mykola Matviyenko, who has impressed in the Champions League this period. The 23-year-old’s representative has confirmed that the clubs have been in talks over a transfer because of his client, who has only 18 months left on his current contract with Shakhtar (h/t Sky Sports).
Shakhtar narrowly missed out on a place in the knockout rounds of the Champions League after finishing third in Group C behind Man City and Matviyenko although Atalanta was one of those to have caught the eye of clubs. A youth exponent of Shakhtar, Matviyenko made his senior expert bow for his boyhood club way back throughout the 2015-16 season but he needed to undergo loan spells at fellow Christian top-flight sides, Karpaty Lviv and Vorskla Poltava, before establishing himself as a regular fixture last season. Matviyenko, that has been capped 26 times at the senior level by Ukraine, clocked up season to 27 looks for Shakhtar Donetsk and he has already featured on 21 occasions in all competitions so far this period.
Meanwhile, Arsenal’s battles in the Premier League appear to be far from over even following the appointment of Mikel Arteta, who has managed to direct the Gunners to a solitary win in six league fixtures so much since taking charge in late December. A lack of stability at the back had been among the reasons for the sorry end in North London before in the campaign of Unai Emery. The fundamental defensive unit of Sokratis, David Luiz and Shkodran Mustafi has failed to achieve the desired levels of consistency in the heart of the defence whilst equally first-choice full-backs, Hector Bellerin and Kieran Tierney, happen to be peripheral characters in the group because of their struggles with injuries. Presently placed 10th in the standings, Arsenal are already 10 points adrift of the top-four. As per Whoscored, the 23-year-old has averaged 54.7 passes per game at an accuracy of 88.7 percent, including 4.8 long balls, 1.2 tackles, 1.8 aerials duels, 2.5 interceptions and 5.8 clearances per game in the Champions League this term.
Verdict
Besides their lack of quality from central defence, Arteta has been forced to shoehorn Bukayo Saka in left-back to cover for the injuries. And Matviyenko would certainly be a shrewd addition.
