Chelsea have hijacked the deal for Mykhaylo Mudryk under Arsenal’s, reportedly agreeing to a €100 million fee with Shakhtar Donetsk.
According to Fabrizio Romano, Chelsea have reached an agreement with Shakhtar Donetsk for the service of Mykhaylo Mudryk. Arsenal have also been fighting to get the player to arrive in North London in January.
It is claimed the Blues accelerated talks with the club and will now pay an upfront fee of €70 million, while the remaining €30 million can be achieved in add-ons.
Personal terms should not be a problem, as the 22-year-old is expected to have a steep wage hike upon his arrival in the Premier League. A few Chelsea officials flew to Turkey to mediate the transfer where the club is holding a training camp.
Arsenal will need to match Chelsea’s offer as their previous bid was only €5 million less and the forward is also keen to combine with Mikel Arteta.
The Gunners have been in ravishing form topping the Premier League table. But Gabriel Jesus’s long-standing absence has forced Arteta to swoop in for an additional forward.
Chelsea have already snapped up four players including Joao Felix on a short-term contract and Mudryk could be their fifth signing in this winter. The player will travel to London to discuss further details and if all remains positive he could put pen to paper on a massive seven-year contract.
Fabrizio Romano said:
“Chelsea are on a mission in Poland, where Shakhtar are with their training camp, to sign Mykhaylo Mudryk.
“Chelsea are now in talks with Shakhtar, very advanced talks, to reach an agreement on the fee of the deal for Mykhaylo Mudryk. But also, Chelsea will try to focus, of course, on the player side.
“We know that Arsenal are more in advanced talks because in the last few days Arsenal made a third bid, €70million plus 25 in add-ons. Shakhtar and Arsenal were also speaking today about this bid.
“But then Chelsea arrived in Poland to negotiate with Shakhtar and to try to reach an agreement between clubs and then negotiate with the player.”
It remains to be seen whether Arsenal interfere with Chelsea’s ambitions or they shift their focus elsewhere.