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Everton invited to make a new bid for Ukraine attacker

By Matt Townsend

WARSAW, POLAND - OCTOBER 11: Mykhalo Mudryk of Shakhtar Donetsk in action during the UEFA Champions League group F match between Shakhtar Donetsk and Real Madrid at Wojska Polskiego Stadium on October 11, 2022 in Warsaw, Poland. (Photo by Piotr Matusewicz/Quality Sport Images/Getty Images)
WARSAW, POLAND - OCTOBER 11: Mykhalo Mudryk of Shakhtar Donetsk in action during the UEFA Champions League group F match between Shakhtar Donetsk and Real Madrid at Wojska Polskiego Stadium on October 11, 2022 in Warsaw, Poland. (Photo by Piotr Matusewicz/Quality Sport Images/Getty Images) /
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Along with other interested clubs, Everton are apparently being invited to enter January negotiations for Shaktar Donetsk and Ukraine forward Mykhaylo Mudryk.

According to media reports the Ukrainian club are ready to lister to offers in the New Year for their young star who has attracted attention from several European clubs, including Everton.

The Toffees’ were said to have made a substantial bid for Mudryk just before the summer transfer window closed, but they were not successful.

He was one of a bewildering number of forwards that the Blues’ were linked with as the search for attacking reinforcements went on all summer long.

But as we all know, despite having two months to do so, Everton failed to secure more than one additional forward in Neal Maupay before the window shut.

If left Frank Lampard relying far too much on the injury-prone Dominic Calvert-Lewin and true to form he got hurt just before the season began and has just picked up another injury too.

So, this failure has had very serious concequences during the first few months of the campaign and it has inhibited the team’s ability to gain crucial points in their opening fifteen matches.

These costs have been particularly evident over the course of the last few weeks and games before the upcoming World Cup.

In their final four fixtures, the Toffees’ gained a point at Fulham, lost to Leicester City at Goodison Park and then were soundly beaten twice by Bournemouth in the Carabao Cup and Premier League.

In the process the Blues’ only scored one single goal, underlining the paucity of their current attacking options and the desperate need for reinforcements.

The team had essentially been relying on their earlier improved defensive solidity to secure points and that is now also in question after conceding nine goals in those three games.

All this has left Everton’s season in serious trouble. They now sit seventeenth in the league and face another uphill struggle to create anything positive out of this campaign while still possibly ending up in another relegation battle.

Well now it seems that a possible January move for Mudryk could well still be on the cards if this story is true.

The Ukraine international is certainly an exciting attacking talent and has shown his ability with Shaktar again this season.

Whether the Toffees’ will try again to sign this player is uncertain. If they do, they will likely face strong competition from other clubs and the price being mentioned, around £100 million in the media is obviously prohibitive.

Among those other clubs could well be current Premier League leaders Arsenal. The London club were also heavily linked with a potential move for Mudryk in the summer.

If Everton don’t move again for the Ukrainian they must make concrete moves to bring at least one or two more forwards in who can create and score the goals so needed to rescue this season.

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