Mykhailo Mudryk was reportedly devastated that he had to join Chelsea instead of Arsenal. He was keen on joining Mikel Arteta’s side, but the Gunners could not agree a deal with Shakhtar Donetsk.
As per a report in The Athletic, Mudryk was adamant about joining Arsenal and was vocal about it on social media. He was posting stories on Instagram about his interest in moving to the Emirates but ended up joining Chelsea.
Chelsea signed Mudryk for a reported £89 million [including add-ons] – a fee that Arsenal matched, per the Ukranian side’s CEO. However, the Gunners could not agree on a structure and the bonus clauses, which saw the winger move to Stamford Bridge.
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Shakhtar Donetsk CEO Sergiy Palkin said to The Athletic:
“From my point of view, (this) is why everybody talked about Arsenal. It is because Arsenal contacted the player almost one and a half months before they contacted us. If you talk about Chelsea, they called me at the end of December and asked if they can contact Mudryk because they are interested in him and want to talk with him. I said, ‘No problem, you can contact him’.”
He continued:
“Therefore, why did many people around it have the impression that Mudryk was going to Arsenal? It is because Arsenal contacted him and then Mudryk started to watch some games of Arsenal. But negotiations are negotiations. When you didn’t close everything, when you did not (close) the last dot, then you cannot finish the deal. Therefore it was just an outside visual impression that Mudryk is close to Arsenal.”
Speaking about the final offer from both sides, Palkin added:
“Overall, it was the same. Not approximately the same — it was the same figure. The fixed part, variable part, bonuses. But if you look inside the fixed part and bonuses, it was completely different. Different time (schedule) of the payments, different kinds of bonuses. Yes, we can talk about bonuses, but these bonuses should be somehow achievable and realistic, let’s say. Therefore, in this case, Chelsea was much more serious and fair in some points.”
He has scored 12 goals and assisted 17 times in his 44 matches for Chelsea. The Atheltic have stated that there are a few at Arsenal who still admire Murdyk but have not reported a possible move in the future.