Money won. The miner managed to sell Mudrik on his own terms

The main transfer saga of this winter in Ukrainian football has successfully come to an end – Shakhtar’s winger Mykhailo Mudryk will become a Chelsea player. The story of the transfer of the Ukrainian midfielder looked like a fascinating series with a lot of characters, but the player himself was not its main character. For a long time, Arsenal was considered the main contender for the Ukrainian, but at one point the situation changed dramatically and Mikhail ended up in another London club, which managed to satisfy the Miners’ financial needs.

We can already safely say that Mudryk will become the most expensive Ukrainian football player in history, because the total amount of the transfer to Chelsea will be 100 million euros With with various bonuses. This is exactly the amount that the management of Shakhtar has long indicated and demanded from potential buyers. Mikhail himself will sign a long-term contract with the London club and fulfill his old dream: he will play in the top European championship.

Shakhtar is the big winner of this deal

Last summer, the Pitmen’s leadership was seriously criticized after they refused to let Mudrik go to one of the European clubs. Leverkusen Bayer went to Shakhtar with a specific offer, Brentford and Newcastle showed serious interest in the player, and in the last days of the summer transfer window, Everton and Arsenal became more active, who were ready to offer quite adequate sums for the transfer of the Ukrainian. But in the end, all the negotiations ended unsuccessfully, Mudryk stayed at the Donetsk club for another six months, and, as it turned out, it was a very right decision.

The enchanting performance of the Ukrainian winger in the group stage of the Champions League clearly demonstrated the correctness of Shakhtar and the Pitmen’s desire to earn as much as possible from their main talent. Mudryk scored three goals and provided two assists in six Champions League matches, and with each new match, his price continued to skyrocket, as did the level of potential contenders for a football player. It was no longer about the middle peasants of the Premier League and the Bundesliga, and in the media, in addition to Arsenal and Chelsea, even Real and PSG were called.

Such interest in their best player could not be ignored by Shakhtar CEO Sergiy Palkin and the club’s director of football Darijo Srna, who made several rather loud and bold statements regarding the future of Mikhail and “hung” a very ambitious price tag on the Ukrainian – 100 million euros. The Pitmen’s management cited the transfers of Jack Grealish to Manchester City and Anthony to Manchester United as an example, rightly believing that their talented winger plays football just as well, and therefore costs no less.

It is important to note that both Arsenal and Chelsea offered much more than his real value for the Ukrainian midfielder. Mudryk is a very talented football player who managed to become the leader of Shakhtar in a short period of time and received a call-up to the Ukrainian national team. He has excellent technique and speed, a good long-range shot, he is not afraid to take the game on himself, he sees the field perfectly and finds teammates at the right time. But even in modern realities, a football player who plays himselfohm weak Ukrainian championship over the past twenty years, cannot be worth 100 million euros, no matter how talented he is. For a European fan, Mikhail is still a “pig in a poke”, who has played only a few successful matches in the Champions League and has only eight matches for the national team to his credit.

Shakhtar really should be commended for this transfer, as the club managed to sell Mudrik on their own terms and were not tempted by far less attractive offers. The miners were firm in their position to let Mudryk go to another club for as much money as possible, because the Ukrainian football player suddenly became their main transfer asset. Due to FIFA’s decision, last summer Shakhtar were unable to profitably sell their leading foreign players, the team’s roster was significantly updated, so the desire of the Donetsk club to make the most of Mikhail is quite logical. And Shakhtar managed to do it.

The correctness of Mudrik’s choice will be judged only by time. But he really wanted to leave Shakhtar

Mikhail himself throughout this story did not hide his desire to leave Shakhtar and last summer he was ready to move to another club. After the summer transfer window closed, the Ukrainian football player publicly stated that he had been in talks with several European teams, but honorably accepted the Miners’ decision not to sell him. And a few months ago, Mudryk expressed his disappointment with the amount that Shakhtar are demanding for his transfer, hinting that no club would be ready to pay such a large amount of money for a Ukrainian Premier League player.

For a long time, Arsenal was considered a priority option for Mudrik, who, even before the new year, took the first real steps to transfer the Ukrainian national team player and agreed on the terms of a personal contract with the Ukrainian football player long ago. Mikhail did not hide his sympathy for the Gunners, saying in an interview that it would be very difficult to refuse such a club. And on social networks, the Ukrainian openly demonstrated that he was following the matches of Arsenal and expressed admiration for the team’s coach Mikel Arteta.

Even a multi-million dollar offer from Chelsea did not seem to interfere with the transfer of Mudrik to Arsenal, because one of the key points in this whole saga has always been considered the desire of the Ukrainian to continue his career at the Emirates. Even after the first two unsuccessful offers from the Gunners, there was a feeling that Mikhail’s transfer to Arsenal was just a matter of time and sooner or later the parties would be able to agree.

Chelsea acted much faster and offered more favorable terms not only to Shakhtar, but also to the player himself. Mudryk will sign a long-term contract with a solid salary (the Londoners will pay him 7.5 million euros a year), and the representatives of the Blues certainly managed to convince the Ukrainian player that they consider him as a key player in the team’s starting line-up in the next few years. Mikhail faced a difficult choice given how close he was to Arsenal, but could not resist an offer from Chelsea. Negotiations between Shakhtar and Arsenal were really very difficult and probably reached a dead end, so in this case, Mudrik’s desire to leave the Ukrainian club turned out to be stronger than his desire to become a Gunners player.

Given the principled position of Shakhtar, at Mudrik there was practically no way to speed up his transition to one of the London clubs. Mikhail tried to make hints on social networks, gave various interviews, but, of course, he could not influence the decision of Shakhtar President Rinat Akhmetov. Given the military situation in Ukraine and the great respect for Shakhtar and how much the club has done for him in recent years, there was no question of any transfer request to the Pitmen from Mudryk.

Arsenal was seen as an ideal place for Mudrik as a career continuation. The team is in first place in the Premier League standings and is fighting for the league title for the first time in many years, Mikel Arteta knows how to work with young players and clearly counted on Mikhail as an important player, if not this, then next season. Yes, and the factor of Alexander Zinchenko also cannot be discounted, because a compatriot would certainly help the Ukrainian to adapt faster in a new country and in a new championship. Yes, in Arsenal Mudrik would face serious competition in any position in the attack and no one would guarantee him a place in the starting lineup, but the situation in Chelsea is unlikely to be more favorable for the Ukrainian winger.

See also: Chelsea reached an agreement with Shakhtar on the transfer of Mudrik. The amount of the transfer is 100 million euros

At the moment, the Blues under the leadership of Graham Potter are not going through the best of times, the team plays unstable and is in the middle of the English Championship standings and is far from competing for high positions, and also flew out of the National Cup. Of course, Chelsea continues to be a top club, despite all their problems, sooner or later the team will overcome the crisis and improve their position, and Mudrik can really help the Blues here and now, given the personnel problems of the Potter team in attack. The Chelsea manager is under enormous pressure due to poor results and a lot will depend on a banal factor: whether the club’s new owners will give the ex-Brighton manager time to build his team. Indeed, in the past, Chelsea quite easily parted with their head coaches, and if this trend continues, this could be a wake-up call for the Ukrainian football player.

Chelsea came up with nothing new: gave more money and quickly closed the deal

We can safely state that Darijo Srna’s recent meeting with Chelsea representatives in London was at least fruitful, and the parties heard each other’s positions. The Blue leadership was well aware that financially they would be able to offer more weighty arguments than Arsenal, and they certainly assumed the position of the Gunners not to get involved in a money war for Mudrik.

However, Arsenal persisted in making a third offer for the Ukrainian midfielder and the Gunners’ determination forced the Chelsea bosses to act quickly. The Blues managed to quickly negotiate not only with Shakhtar, but also convinced Mudrik himself to join the Potter team, closing the deal within a few hours. An interesting point in this story is the publicity of both clubs, because both Shakhtar and Chelsea on their official pages confirmed the fact of negotiations for the Ukrainian midfielder, and such openness is not often seen at such a high level.

👀 https://t.co/OqZ3zxSdww

— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) January 14, 2023

After a change of ownership last summer, the London club continues to be the most active participant in the transfer window. Chelsea spared no expense in recruiting new players ahead of the start of the season, significantly revamping and strengthening their squad, signing several high-priced newcomers including Wesley Fofan, Raheem Sterling, Marc Cucurella and Kalidou Koulibaly. After an unsuccessful start to the season and a change of mentor, the club’s management did not change its strategy and once again spent heavily on new players.

Mudrik will be the Blues’ fourth rookie this winter and by far Chelsea’s most expensive signing under new owners led by Todd Boely. Londoners are determined to save the current season, so their activity in the transfer market is understandable and is unlikely to please the Blues’ main rivals in the Premier League. Chelsea expects to break into the European Cup zone at the end of the season, the team also continues to participate in the Champions League playoffs and this tournament may become a priority for it in the current campaign.

Last time Mudryk played in an official match in late November last year, so it’s hard to say how quickly the Ukrainian will pick up his best form and become a real helper for the Blues. Mikhail managed to start preparing for the second part of the season together with Shakhtar, but so far he is far from his ideal condition and he will need some time to adapt to the new club. The Ukrainian will be under a lot of pressure from the public due to the high transfer fee, but he will have at least six months to get used to the new realities and environment.

I would like to believe that Mudryk made the right choice and will not repeat the fate of the first Ukrainian football player in the history of Chelsea, Andriy Shevchenko, who failed to prove himself properly in the London club. Not many Ukrainian football players at the age of 22 managed to leave the UPL team and move to one of the strongest and largest clubs in the world, so for his part, Mikhail must make every effort to make himself known to British fans. The talent and class of the Ukrainian quite allow him to be ready to play at the highest level from the very first matches in the blue jersey.