Arsenal’s hunt for defensive reinforcements has reached Ukraine with the agent of Shakhtar Donetsk’s Mykola Matviyenko claiming the Gunners made contact about a possible January deal.
Matviyenko, 23, is a left-sided center-back with 61 appearances under his belt for the Ukrainian champions and 26 caps for his country.
Speaking to Ukranian media outlets, representative Yuri Danchenko said: “My colleagues and I have been constantly in contact with representatives of Arsenal and have held meetings. The Gunners have contacted Shakhtar and we’re hopeful negotiations will succeed.”
Reports claim the player has been on Manchester City’s radar having featured four times against the Premier League champions during Shakhtar’s two most recent Champions League campaigns.
Since losing Calum Chambers to a season-ending injury, Arsenal have been linked with a number of defenders this month, including RB Leipzig’s Dayot Upamecano, Bayern Munich’s Jerome Boateng and PSG left-back Layvin Kurzawa.
The Gunners are in more need of a center half following the red card to David Luiz in the 2-2 draw with Chelsea on Tuesday. Furthermore, the team is not confident with the services of Shkodran Mustafi who was at fault for the Luiz sending off.
Mikel Arteta is having to use Grant Xhaka who is a midfielder as a center back.