It appears Chelsea are giving Graham Potter a new toy to play with after his last one got suspended for three matches an hour into his debut.
The Blues are believed to have agreed an £88.5m deal to sign Ukrainian forward Mykhailo Mudryk from Shakhtar Donetsk, structured as £62m fixed with £26.5m in available add-ons.
However, the 22-year-old was supposedly set to join Premier League rivals Arsenal, with the club submitting two bids in the past month after a long-term pursuit of man dubbed the “Ukrainian Neymar”.
The links were so advanced that speculation had already begun over when the forward would make his Emirates debut.
Mudryk is considered to be a huge talent, with Shakhtar’s director of football Darijo Srna calling him the third-best left-winger in the world last summer, behind only Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius Junior.
The prodigious youngster, who has never played for a club outside his war-torn homeland, joins a Chelsea side in turmoil, unable to buy a point so choosing to buy more players instead.
Here’s how Todd Boehly and Chelsea ended up stealing the supposed answer to all Arsenal’s problems:
More from Football
Toney and Jensen fire Brentford past Bournemouth and above Liverpool - ratings and analysis14 January, 2023
Liverpool thrashed by Brighton, Man Utd stun City, Everton face fan mutiny14 January, 2023
How Tottenham could line up against Arsenal, with Kulusevski back but Bentancur a doubt14 January, 2023Initial transfer speculation
Mudryk, who came through the Shakhtar academy in 2018 after periods at Metalist Kharkiv and now-defunct Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk, only made his full debut for Shakhtar in August 2021.
He scored just twice last season in all competitions, but did provide nine assists, being mainly used as a substitute until the final few games of the Ukrainian league season.
He appeared as a substitute in Ukraine’s World Cup qualification playoffs last June and now has eight caps for the national side, but has not scored or provided an assist.
His first link to the Premier League came from Brentford, who were reportedly interested in the forward as early as last May, before the first of Mudryk’s “nearly-transfers” took place.
The youngster was all but confirmed to be joining Bayer Leverkusen for around £20m last June, before Shakhtar convinced him to stay, assumedly in the hope of increasing that transfer fee in six months time.
They weren’t wrong.
Mudryk had initially said: “I would be very happy if my club accepts Bayer’s offer, I have decided for myself that that is the only club I want to join.”
Yet after rejecting Leverkusen’s personal terms, as well as the advances of Italian giants AC Milan and Juventus, he told Ukrainian news sources: “We sat down with the club management and decided that it would be better for me to stay for the time being.”
Later that summer, Srna confirmed that Everton had a £26.1m bid rejected by the club, who now valued their starlet significantly higher.
i reported in September that Newcastle also had a “serious interest” in Mudryk.
Early Arsenal links
It is no secret that Arsenal have held an interest in Mudryk for a long time, but not as long as their fans will tell you they have been watching him for.
Their interest was first reported in the summer, and Mudryk complimented the club when asked about it by CBS in early September.
“I think every guy dreams about the Premier League. Arsenal is a very good team with a very good coach. I like the way they play.
“It would be hard to say no from my side, I can’t say no but the transfer is not only my decision and my word. In winter we will see.”
Mikel Arteta’s scouts have been reportedly following him since then, including his impressive Champions League performances.
Mudryk scored three goals and provided two assists as he started all of Shakhtar’s group matches, while also scoring seven goals and providing six assists in just 10 league starts.
Reports of an official bid began to swirl around early December as Arsenal looked to secure their spot at the top of the Premier League.
Arsenal bids
It was reported on Boxing Day that Arsenal had made an official bid of more than £45m for Mudryk.
While this was some way from Shakhtar’s valuation of the player, it confirmed that Arsenal were serious about signing Mudryk in January.
And the forward seemed keen to sign, posting a series of cryptically Arsenal-related tweets through the turn of the year.
Arsenal then bid £62m plus bonuses on 12 January, a bid which the club expected to be accepted.
But it had already began to go wrong behind the scenes.
— DailyAFC (@DailyAFC) December 31, 2022
Mudryk on Instagram. #afc pic.twitter.com/geTreKPgma
Chelsea signing
Reports emerged on 4 January that Chelsea were ready to steal Mudryk from Arsenal and Srna was in Boehly’s box for the 4-0 defeat to Manchester City two days later.
It was then reported on Saturday that Chelsea co-owner Behdad Eghbali and director of global transfers Paul Winstanley were in Antalya, Turkey, where Shakhtar are currently enjoying a warm-weather training camp.
While Arsenal were preparing for a crucial north London derby, Chelsea convinced Mudryk to join, made Shakhtar an £88.5m offer, and whisked the young Ukrainian back to London on their private jet, all in a day’s work.
It was the sort of move Chelsea fans were used to under Roman Abramovich, as fans of Tottenham and Liverpool probably will not forget any time soon.
Mudryk is now expected to complete his medical on Sunday and attend Chelsea’s Stamford Bridge clash with Crystal Palace on the same day, ahead of his move being confirmed.
Chelsea and Shakhtar have both confirmed in public statements that the deal is almost complete, while Chelsea’s social media pages have been encouraging fans to follow their probable new signing.
Like every good new relationship, they have even put his name in their Instagram bio.
Mudryk has been promised an immediate starting berth for the beleaguered Blues and Graham Potter is reportedly a huge fan of the forward.
He is likely to be in line to make his debut at Anfield next Saturday, a game which could send Chelsea into the bottom half of the Premier League at the season’s half-way point.
Arsenal are reportedly one of multiple Premier League clubs upset at the way in which Chelsea have done business of late, having first paid over the odds for Joao Felix’s signature on loan and now forking out at least £62m up front for a virtual unknown at football’s top table.
The deal will take Chelsea’s spending since Boehly and Clearlake Capital bought the club to around £40m.
from Football - inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/ezUHqOM
Post a Comment