Arsenal may have just been handed a serious warning in their pursuit of Mykhailo Mudryk as Shakhtar Donetsk's director has arrived in London for a meeting with Chelsea.

What's the latest?

It is believed Arsenal have now submitted a new and improved offer to Shakhtar Donetsk for the services of the Ukrainian winger after their first bid was rejected.

The bid has been reported by Fabrizio Romano after their initial offer in the region of €40m (£35m) plus €20m (£17.6m) in add-ons was snubbed, but the Italian journalist also noted Chelsea's interest in the player.

However, the latest twist in this transfer race may have swung against Arsenal's favour with Darijo Srna now in the capital to discuss the potential sale of his club's prized asset but with one of the Gunners' rivals in Chelsea:

"First of all, I want to mention that Darijo Srna, who is the director of Shakhtar Donetsk, former Croatian right-back, he's now in London. He will have a meeting with Chelsea," Romano said on the House of Champions YouTube channel.

"So there is a meeting scheduled between Chelsea and Shakhtar to discuss about the potential conditions of the deal.

"The player's side is really clear. Mudryk I think is also kind of public after his Instagram stories, Mudryk wants to go to Arsenal as [a] priority. This is no secret.

"But Arsenal have to be fast. Now Arsenal have to reach an agreement with Shakhtar otherwise Chelsea will push and try to enter in this race in a serious way."

Deja vu

This has to be a major worry for those at Arsenal with Chelsea having recent history of hijacking one of Arsenal's proposed moves for a winger after almost stealing Raphinha from their grasp in the summer.

However, it is apparent Mudryk is seriously keen to join Arsenal this month with the Ukrainian making it very clear that the north London side are his preferred destination.

The 21-year-old has already spoken about not being able to turn down a club like Arsenal if they were to come calling and has recently shared some cryptic hints on his social media pages during a number of Arsenal's games.

Given how well Mikel Arteta's side have begun the 2022/23 campaign, it would be interesting to see if Mudryk would be open to a move to Chelsea if that is a serious option this month.

The Gunners are currently sitting pretty at the top of the Premier League table and sit 19 points ahead of Graham Potter's Chelsea who have it all to do if they are to make the Champions League spots for next season.

After an impressive start to his own campaign in Ukraine, Mudryk compared virtually identical to what Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli have produced in front of goal at the Emirates Stadium this season (via FBref).

And having seen how Arteta has developed some of his young talents in north London, it is not difficult to see why Mudryk would be keen to make a move to the Gunners.

However, it seems as if the pressure is now on the Arsenal board to make it happen with the Blues clearly laying out their interest to Shakhtar.