Manor Solomon was almost signed by Arsenal and wanted by Pep Guardiola. Now he surpasses former Shakhtar Donetsk teammate Mykhailo Mudryk

Manor Solomon has had quite a journey to become a Premier League star but is now reaching the heights with Fulham.

The Israel international’s most recent goal against Brentford on Monday night gave Fulham five goals in five games.

And it wasn’t long ago that the winger was eyed by Arsenal and Manchester City before Fulham snapped him up.

He first came on Pep Guardiola’s radar while still a teenager playing for Maccabi Petah Tivka in his native Israel and had a £4million asking price.

However, when club owners realized City were interested – they doubled their asking price to £9m – resulted in the plug being pulled.

Speaking to the Guardian in 2020, Solomon said: “They really wanted me and I had a meeting with them but unfortunately it didn’t work out.

“Clubs in Europe don’t see the Israeli league as a strong league, so they don’t buy Israeli league players for that much money.”

That would end up biting City as Solomon would stab them in the Champions League after his move to Shakhtar Donetsk in 2019.

A year later, Solomon equalized for the Ukrainian club in a group match against the Premier League giants to show Guardiola what he was missing.

And interest from England didn’t stop there as Arsenal transfer boss Edu Gaspar made signing the attacker in January 2021 his top priority.

According to Football London, super agent Pini Zahavi was in talks with Edu and Solomon was keen on a move to the Emirates but no agreement could be reached with Shakhtar.

The Olimpiyskiy team had asked for £21m – too high a price for Arsenal but one they now have to regret after some sensational performances.

Solomon quickly became a star at Craven Cottage amid his brilliant form, which included two stunning goals in back-to-back games.

The first came against Wolves and then Leeds in the FA Cup – cutting in from the right side before delivering an unstoppable shot into the back net.

But if 2023 started with a bang, 2022 was one to forget after it became embroiled in the Russia-Ukraine war in Shakhtar.

A FIFA ruling allowed players from Ukraine’s Premier League to suspend their contracts with clubs to escape the ensuing conflict.

And Fulham swooped in, signing the striker on loan after allowing him to train with the club, but disaster struck just days into his time in west London.

After making his Premier League debut against Liverpool on the opening day of the season in August, he suffered a serious ankle injury the next day that ruled him out for five months.

“Last year was the most difficult of my life,” Solomon told The Athletic in February.

“It started with the war in Ukraine. I signed for Fulham, I’ve wanted to be part of the Premier League for a long time and suddenly after the first game I got injured with the worst injury of my career.”

It meant he was unable to play until January but the Israeli is on a mission to make up for lost time with his recent form and has already scored five goals in all competitions.

It comes at a time when an old pal of his continues to fight across the street in the form of Mykhailo Mudryk.

The two players were part of a devastating attack in Ukraine alongside Tete, another Premier League star who joined Leicester in January.

But since joining Chelsea he hasn’t had nearly as much of an impact as Mudryk as Solomon has not scored or provided an assist in five games despite joining for a fee of almost £89million.

There are mitigating circumstances, however, as he has played just minutes in some appearances and arrived unfit after not playing for two months while the Blues were in poor form.

However, Solomon’s rapid impact on English football has shown his old Shakhtar pal how it’s done, while the top clubs can’t be far behind considering the attacker is only on loan at Fulham.

He was even rated higher than Mudryk by Avi Luzon, the former chairman of Solomon’s first club Maccabi Petah Tikva, who said: “To me he’s worth 100 million.

“He’s a kid who thinks about how to improve every game and every training session. How to improve your finishing, dribbling and team play. He doesn’t score a goal or two and rest on his laurels.”

Again, Arsenal and Tottenham are the latest clubs to show interest ahead of a summer move, which seems almost certain given the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.

But Marco Silva hasn’t given up the fight for the 23-year-old, who may have a big decision to make in the summer.