Chelsea complete £88m signing of Mykhailo Mudryk

Chelsea have completed a stunning £88million move for Ukrainian winger Mykhailo Mudryk from Shakhtar Donetsk. 

The west London club beat Arsenal at the 11th hour to the transfer, with their deal preferable to the Ukrainian club both in terms of the outlay and the way it was structured. 

Having led the race for months – with the player making little secret of his desire to join Arsenal on social media – the Premier League leaders were beaten to his signature by Chelsea.

Todd Boehly has sought to revamp Chelsea’s squad this January with youthful additions 

As Arsenal continued to negotiate over the structure of their offer for the Ukraine winger, a Chelsea delegation, including co-owner Behdad Eghbali and director of global talent Paul Winstanley, flew to Belek in Turkey, where Shakhtar are based, to tip the deal in their favour.

Premier League leaders Arsenal had made their third proposal of £62m plus £20m in potential add-ons on Thursday and had maintained dialogue since over the structure of the fee. Yet Chelsea countered on Friday with £62m and a further £26m in add-ons. 

Mudryk becomes Chelsea’s fifth signing this January, joining David Datro Fofana, Joao Felix, Benoit Badiashile and Andrey Santos through the door. 

He was heavily linked with a move to the Emirates over the summer, and in September, it was reported that Mudryk was interested in moving to Arsenal. After a Champions League match for the Ukrainian club, Mudryk said: ‘I think every guy dreams about the Premier League.’

Graham Potter is under pressure and will hope Mudryk can lead an upturn in fortunes

The winger is one of Europe’s most exciting young players and is a major signing for the Blues

Mudryk has been at Shakhtar Donetsk since 2016, and was twice named player of the year

His arrival comes as Graham Potter looks to arrest Chelsea’s sharp decline in form and results. They are on a run of three consecutive defeats, sitting some 10 points outside of the top four places and a further 19 off the summit.

Mudryk made clear his own interest in Arsenal, including wearing a Gunners shirt on his Instagram story. 

He previously called the 40-year-old Arteta a ‘top coach’ on New Year’s Eve when he was in the opposing dug-out to Brighton’s Roberto De Zerbi, who used to take charge of Shakhtar. 

Before that Premier League clash, De Zerbi called Mudryk ‘a future Ballon d’Or winner’ if he was confirmed as an Arsenal player. 

The £88million fee will lead to a high level of expectation placed on Mudryk from fans

As it is, Mudryk will line up for Chelsea for the second part of the season having jetted into London to complete the deal. 

Mudryk was born in Krashnohrad, Ukraine, on January 5, 2001, and he was part of the youth set-up at Shakhtar Donetsk from 2016, making his first senior appearance for the club two years later.

The 5ft 9in winger also had previous short-term loan spells at Arsenal Kyiv and Desna Chernihiv in 2019 and 2020 respectively.

He was named Shakhtar’s player of the year twice in a row in 2021 and 2022. 

The winger has made 8 appearances for the Ukraine national side so far, since earning his first cap in May 2022.