Arsenal: Shakhtar center-back Mykola Matviyenko linked to the Gunners
Shakhtar Donetsk’s 23-year-old Ukranian center-back Mykola Matviyenko is in talks to move to Arsenal this week, according to his agent.
Mikel Arteta seems to have ripped out a few pages from Manchester City’s book of transfer plans before he left the Etihad for the Emirates – although, he would’ve had to take the pages with cheaper options…
Shakhtar Donetsk center-back Mykola Matviyenko, who impressed for the Ukranian club against Manchester City in the Champions League in late November, has been linked to the Gunners this week by the player’s agent himself. Matviyenko is reportedly also a target for Pep Guardiola and Manchester City, although no concrete links have formed this week between them and the player.
"“My colleagues and I have been constantly in contact with representatives of the Arsenal, and have meetings…The Gunners’ hierarchy have already contacted [Shakhtar], and we hope that these negotiations will succeed.” – Yuriy Danchenko, agent of Matviyenko"
The blatancy of Danchenko’s comments suggests that the transfer is chugging along nicely, as his client looks to take a big step up to Premier League football.
While Matviyenko isn’t a big name, he is certainly a player who could help Arsenal out at the moment. Not only are the Gunners poor at center-back in terms of quality, but they are now short of numbers as well, with Chambers ruled out for the season and Mavropanos loaned out.
Haven't seen this Mykola Matviyenko guy but sounds promising enough based on what I've read. Left footed, good on the ball, aggressive and young. Also wanted by Manchester City. I'm taking that over Boateng any day of the week.
— Gally (@AFCGally) January 22, 2020
Arsenal’s match against Chelsea on Tuesday once again clearly displayed their lack of quality in the position, as Shkodran Mustafi, who is still somehow an Arsenal player, made a crucial mistake which led directly to a David Luiz red card.
Shakhtar’s Matviyenko already has 20 caps for the Ukranian national team, and as a left-footed center-back, he would be a rarity in the Arsenal backline, and perhaps someone that could really come good for the Gunners over the coming years.
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At the moment, no reports have quoted any sort of price for Matviyenko, but it’s almost certain that he would not cost a fortune, meaning that he would likely be a low-risk/high-reward signing for Arsenal, who could really use a diamond in the rough in their backline right now.