Manchester City have reportedly entered the race to sign highly-rated Shakhtar Donetsk playmaker Georgiy Sudakov.
The 21-year-old graduated from the club's youth academy to earn his first professional contract in 2021 and has already totalled 85 matches for Shakhtar, scoring 13 goals and setting up as many more.
Sudakov rose to prominence during a highly successful 2022-23 season, in which he helped himself to five goals and eight assists from 29 Ukrainian Premier League contests, helping Shakhtar win the top-flight title.
The 2002-born midfielder has not been quite so prolific in the current campaign, but he still has three goals and one assist to show from 18 games, including a consolation effort in a 2-1 Champions League loss to Barcelona.
At international level, Sudakov has now earned 12 caps for Ukraine - who called him up to their Euro 2020 squad three years ago - and he topped the scoring charts at the 2023 Under-21 European Championships with three goals, level with Spain's Abel Ruiz and Sergio Gomez.
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Amid growing interest in his services, Shakhtar agreed a new deal with the 21-year-old only a couple of weeks ago, and his current terms run until New Year's Eve 2028.
The Ukrainian champions allegedly inserted a release clause of €150m (£128.3m) into Sudakov's renewal, although there is a consensus that Shakhtar will listen to reasonable offers this summer.
All of Manchester United, Liverpool and Chelsea have been credited with an interest in Sudakov, an international teammate and close friend of Blues attacker Mykhaylo Mudryk, who left Shakhtar for Stamford Bridge last January.
Mudryk has supposedly urged Chelsea to make a move for his compatriot, but according to Calciomercato, treble winners Manchester City are also in the mix, as are a plethora of other top European teams.
Despite inserting a nine-figure release clause into Sudakov's contract, Shakhtar are supposedly open to doing business for the 21-year-old around the €50m (£42.8m) mark, potentially sparking a wide-scale bidding war.
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Spanish champions Barcelona and Bundesliga holders Bayern Munich are also believed to be monitoring the situation, as are Napoli and Juventus, the latter's search for new midfielders being well-documented.
However, the Italian duo supposedly consider the €50m (£42.8m) fee too high, although they are still keeping a close eye on the situation in case Sudakov shows a preference for moving to Italy.
While Sudakov favours the number 10 position, he has also been deployed in a deeper midfield role and out wide during the embryonic stages of his career for club and country, often occupying the left flank for Ukraine's Under-21s.
Sudakov and Shakhtar will be back in action on Thursday for the first leg of their Europa League knockout round playoff tie with Marseille, which will be played at Hamburg's Volksparkstadion as conflict continues to rage in Ukraine.
Ben Knapton
