Forget Mudryk at 100m, let’s concentrate on extending Saliba, Saka and Martinelli

The media have been busy with news of the transfer saga of Mudryk. I noticed the negative reactions of some of our fans. Shakhter Dotetsk played a smart one on the sale of the young lad by taking advantage of his performance in the champions league to make a good sale of him, even playing two massive EPL clubs against eaxh other.

Truth be told, the boy is a developing talent. One for the now and future. The way Shakhter Donetsk went about the business was suitable for a buyer in a desperate situation. The question is was Arsenal in a desperate situation to buy him at such a ridiculous price?

If you consider  his current team position in Shakhter Dotetsk with what we have at the moment, you will notice that the left wing is not a position where we are short of players. Apart from Martinelli who is doing okay in that position, we have Emile Smith Rowe who just returned to the team. Emile was performing well in that position at the first half of last season. We also have the now uninjured Nelson who can play from that position. Eddie has been played there in some situations.

For the huge amount Arsenal offered for Mudryk, which surprised me considering the player would have been a kind of understudy to Martinelli or rotation player to give him some rest, the only reason I think the club went that far with the negotiation is if Martinelli has no intention to extend his contract with the club, hence the need to buy his replacement before a possible sale at the end of the season. That won’t be a bad idea but not for 100 million Euros. I won’t go into details of the possibility of Mudryk adapting in the Premiership. That itself is a game of chance.

For that amount, I would commend the club for backing out in the end.

As a fan, I worry more about the extension of the contracts of Saliba, Saka and Martinelli.

Getting these three players to extend their contracts should be a bedrock for the process we are trusting under Arteta and Edu.

The lads have surprised critics by keeping the club in a top position up until this time. Keeping them and adding the necessary players will help the project.

If any of them should insist on not signing for any reason, I trust the men currently in charge to get good replacement(s) come next summer.