Arsenal told they must match Antony and Grealish fees to sign Shakhtar star Mudryk

• Arsenal have bid rejected
• Told to increase offer
• Shakhtar want around £88m

WHAT HAPPENED? Arsenal have seen an offer of £55 million for Mykhailo Mudryk rejected by Shakhtar Donetsk. The bid was made up of a £40m fee up front and £15m in add-ons. The Gunners have now been told how much they will need to pay to land the 21-year-old.

Nicolini has said the Ukrainian side want a much higher fee, approaching the ones paid to secure Antony and Jack Grealish in prior windows, if they are to part ways with the youngster in January.

WHAT THEY SAID: "As we've always said, to deal with Mudryk you need to make an important offer. Arsenal may have made such an offer, but there is a negotiation. Players have been sold that clubs wanted to sell and that we believe are no stronger than Mudryk with a valuation of around €100 million, so the €60m is not enough," he told Calciomercato.it. "I'm not the one making the figure, I don't have particular indications from the company, but the sporting director said that we need an important offer closer to Grealish than to Antony. If the cash figure is €40m then it's not even being taken into consideration."

THE BIGGER PICTURE: Mudryk has appeared keen on a move to Arsenal but must wait and see if the Gunners return with a renewed offer. Gunners boss Mikel Arteta has said it's important the club gets players in quickly in January to help sustain their Premier League title challenge.

IN TWO PHOTOS:

WHAT NEXT? Arteta must wait for reinforcements for the time being. His team are back in action on New Year's Eve against Brighton in the Premier League.