Arsenal could delay their pursuit of Shakhtar Donetsk’s Mykhaylo Mudryk in order to sign Atletico Madrid forward Joao Felix on loan “first”, according to The Athletic‘s David Ornstein.

The trusted journalist says the Gunners would like to snap up the Portuguese international but a deal still depends on Atletico lowering their demands:

“It will be interesting to see if Arsenal look to bring forward some business or get some other business done first. They are interested in Joao Felix at Atletico in a loan deal. If the numbers come down significantly from where they are now – and that’s why it’s not happening right now – then perhaps they’ll try and get that one in first. And that will take the pressure off them in the Mudryk pursuit.”

It is believed that Atletico want a €15m (£13.3m) fee to loan out Felix for six months, and that has put off potential suitors like Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United up until now.

Ornstein’s suggestion that Mikel Arteta’s side could prioritise a move for the 23-year-old, ahead of Mudryk, is therefore quite surprising.

You get where he’s coming from in terms of saying that by recruiting Felix, the Gunners wouldn’t be forced into paying over the odds for Mudryk, as they would have already reinforced their frontline.

However, with Chelsea seemingly keen on recruiting Mudryk as well, delaying any attempt to sign the Ukrainian could lead the player to choose a transfer to Stamford Bridge instead.