Chelsea want reassurances that Mykhailo Mudryk wants to join them before he starts with Arsenal

Chelsea want reassurances that Mykhaylo Mudryk would like to join them before taking part in an auction for the Shakhtar Donetsk winger with Arsenal.

Sportsmail reported on Friday that the Ukrainian would prefer a move to the Emirates; when it came to a two-way election between the London rivals.

The Gunners have been linked with Mudryk for some time and earlier this week had rejected initial bids of £52m and £62m, with Shakhtar valuing their 22-year-old superstar at around £88m.

Chelsea are seeking reassurances that Mykhaylo Mudryk wants to join them this January

Graham Potter is also looking at Dani Olmo and Marcus Thuram to back him at Chelsea

But it now appears that Chelsea want to know if he wants to join the club before they embark on a bidding war with Arsenal over Murdryk.

Chelsea, who completed the signing of midfielder Andrey Santos from Vasco da Gama on Friday, have also asked about RB Leipzig’s Spanish winger Dani Olmo and French striker Marcus Thuram, who is out of contract with Borussia Mönchengladbach in the summer.

Arsenal, meanwhile, are reluctant to beat the odds for him but believe that is the 22-year-old’s preference.

Arsenal are yet to sign but two offers for Mudryk have been rejected this week

Shakhtar are awaiting an offer around the £88m mark for their promising young winger

There was optimism their improved £62m offer could be accepted, but there are now concerns Chelsea could hijack the deal, particularly given Graham Potter’s mounting injury list with Raheem Sterling, Mason Mount and Christian Pulisic now all of them have concerns.

Mudryk, who has recorded 12 goals and 17 assists in 44 games after joining Shakhtar in 2018, was pretty clear on his preferred target and posted a picture of him on Instagram watching Arsenal’s game against West Ham on Boxing Day .

He has also opened up about his potential future manager Mikel Arteta, claiming he and former coach Roberto De Zerbi are both “the two best coaches”.

Although it’s unclear if he will move to either side, Chelsea have been busy over the past week signing Monaco defender Benoit Badiashile, Ivorian striker David Datro Fofana and Brazilian youngster Andrey Santos.