CHELSEA COMPLETE €100 MILLION BLOCKBUSTER MOVE FOR MYKHAYLO MUDRYK
Chelsea Football Club have finalized the signing of 22-year-old Shakhtar Donetsk forward, Mykhaylo Mudryk, the club confirmed on Sunday.
The pact is reported to be a whopping €100 million deal, including add-ons. Mudryk now joins Chelsea after signing an eight-and-a-half-year contract that will keep him with the London Blue until June 2030, with an option for a further year.
Mudryk is now Chelsea’s second-most expensive signing of all time, behind only Belgian striker Romelu Lukaku whom the club signed for £97.5 million in August of 2021, and the third-most expensive signing of the Premier League era behind Lukaku and Manchester City’s Jack Grealish whom the defending champions acquired from Aston Villa for £100 million in 2021.
Mudryk signs on an unusually long contract as Chelsea try to navigate Financial Fair Play rules and amortization, in turn protecting themselves from any possible ramifications from UEFA. Since Boehly took over at Stamford Bridge in May of last year, the club has spent over £400 million in two windows. Europe’s governing body, UEFA confirmed in September that Chelsea, in addition to 18 other European clubs, had been placed on a Financial Fair Play (FFP) watch list.
It is understood that Chelsea manager Graham Potter had a phone call with Mudryk a few days ago and set up the first concrete step to tempt the player to Chelsea. Expected to move to North London giants Arsenal, the deal to sign Mudryk was hijacked by Chelsea, sealed and confirmed in just under 5 days. Mudryk’s priority was always to join Arsenal but Chelsea moved fast after representatives from both Shakhtar Donetsk and Chelsea met in London on Wednesday.
According to multiple reports, Arsenal’s bid for Mudryk topped out at €95 million including add-ons, as the three-time Premier League winners were intent on “not overpaying” for the talented forward.
The five-foot-nine phenom successfully completed all medical tests on Sunday morning before he was confirmed as Chelsea’s new signing by the afternoon. The Shakhtar Donetsk 2022 Player of the Year will wear the number 15 at his new club and will now look to bolster the team’s options in attack.
The Ukrainian international was presented at halftime at Stamford Bridge on Sunday afternoon and saw the team earn a hard-fought 1-0 win against Crystal Palace. Also present at the game was Shakhtar Donetsk’s sports director Darijo Srna who helped to finalize the deal.
“I’m so happy to sign for Chelsea,” Mudryk said. “This is a huge club, in a fantastic league and it’s a very attractive project for me at this stage of my career. I’m excited to meet my new teammates and I’m looking forward to working and learning under Graham Potter and his staff.”
One of the most dangerous players in Europe in one-v-one situations, Mudryk has blistering pace and creates a variety of chances for himself and his teammates when playing on his favored left wing. Although a versatile winger who can play both sides, Mudryk has been mostly successful cutting in from the left wing and has caused problems for opponents in the final third all season.
The Krasnohrad-born forward has racked up 18 goal involvements in as many games this season. He’s also registered an impressive three goals and two assists in the Champions League group stages, one of only two competitions that Chelsea are still participating in after they were eliminated from the FA Cup by Manchester City last week.
A statement from Chelsea chairman Todd Boehly and co-controlling owner Behdad Eghbali read: “We are delighted to welcome Mykhaylo to Chelsea. He’s a hugely exciting talent who we believe will be a terrific addition to our squad, both now and in the years to come. He will add further depth to our attack and we know he’ll get a very warm welcome to London.”
Mudryk joined Shakhtar Donetsk via their academy in 2016 and has had loan spells at Ukrainian Premier League teams like Arsenal Kyiv and Desna Chernihiv. He broke through with the Shakhtar Donetsk first team last season, registering two goals and seven assists in 11 games.
Former Shakhtar Donetsk manager and current Brighton and Hove Albion head coach Roberto De Zerbi considered Mudryk one of the best young players in Europe and said of the then-20-year-old forward, “If I don’t bring him to a high level, I will consider it a personal defeat.”
Mudryk has attracted interest from European teams all summer, especially in this month’s January transfer window. Initially expected to head to Spanish side Sevilla or Premier League leaders Arsenal, Mudryk will now develop and play for a side that is in need of motivation and a turn-around in form in Chelsea. The team has only won two of its last nine games across all competitions, dating back to the start of November, and currently sit tenth on the Premier League table, 10 points away from the top four.
-Maher Abucheri
Twitter: @pabloikonyero
Photo: Ank Kumar. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.