Chelsea agrees on a deal of £88.5 million For Mykhailo Mudryk

Chelsea agrees on a deal of £88.5 million For Mykhailo Mudryk

Chelsea and Shakhtar Donetsk have reached an agreement to pay £88.5 million (£62 million + add-ons) for the 22-year-old Ukrainian attacker Mykhailo Mudryk.

Arsenal, a rival in the Premier League, targeted Mudryk in January because they needed an attacker to replace the injured Gabriel Jesus. Chelsea, after making a serious move to sign the superstar, has instead hijacked the transfer.

Behdad Eghbali, a co-owner of Chelsea, and Paul Winstanley, the club’s director of international transfers, arrived in Antalya, Turkey, on Saturday to finalize the purchase before flying Mudryk back to the UK on their private aircraft.

Even as recently as Friday, Arsenal was still in negotiations but was ready to abandon the transfer if the terms were unsatisfactory.

The 22-year-old has been given a seven and a half-year deal by the Blues, who are confident that they will be able to secure the transfer. Chelsea will pay €70 (£62) million upfront and €30 (£26.5) million in add-ons, which include meeting certain performance-related requirements like the Champions League and Premier League titles.

Mudryk is anticipated to be at Stamford Bridge to witness Chelsea play Crystal Palace after having his medical on Sunday in London.

In order to discuss the player’s transfer to Stamford Bridge, Chelsea co-owner Behdad Egbali and club president Rinat Akhmetov met on Saturday, according to Shakhtar.

“The parties are very close to the transfer of the footballer to Chelsea FC,” Shakhtar said.

Chelsea owner Todd Boehly has already sanctioned moves for Benoit Badiashile, David Fofana, and Andrey Santos in the January window while adding the loan signing of Joao Felix from Atletico Madrid.

Chelsea issued a statement to say they are “discussing terms” with Shakhtar and added: “Should a deal be agreed between the two clubs then the Ukrainian international, who can operate as a winger or a forward, will discuss personal terms with the Blues ahead of a permanent transfer.”

Mudryk has scored seven goals and made seven assists in 12 league appearances for Shakhtar this season, and he has scored three Champions League goals.

The sensational superstar has scored 12 goals in 44 appearances for Shakhtar Donetsk and has also made eight international appearances for Ukraine since making his debut in June 2022.