Emmanuel Petit has questioned whether Mykhailo Mudryk would rather be at Arsenal than Chelsea. The 22-year-old was heavily linked with a move to the Emirates Stadium ahead of the January transfer window, only for the Blues to swoop in and hijack the deal.
football.london understands that talks between the Gunners and Shakhtar Donetsk were thought to have been progressing well. Arsenal remained in contact with the Ukrainian side and there was confidence that they were going to sign Mudryk.
But, then Chelsea pounced with an offer of their own tabling a bid of €70million (£62million) plus €30million (£26million) worth of add-ons, which was later revealed to be a better structured deal. Just hours later, the Ukraine international was unveiled to Blues fans and paraded around Stamford Bridge at half-time of the clash with Crystal Palace.
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It remains to be seen whether Mikel Arteta will rue the club's decision to not wrap up a deal for the wonderkid sooner. Despite only one impressive cameo appearance for Chelsea under his belt, Petit suspects that Mudryk would rather be at Arsenal amid question marks over his happiness.
"I liked the way Mudryk played against Liverpool on his debut," the Frenchman told Betway. "I think he put something different into the Chelsea game when he came up against them.
"He showed that he was very quick on the ball. He showed that he wasn’t scared, he took responsibility straight away. He wanted to put pressure on the defenders.
"It is still a big gamble for the future. At first he wanted to go to Arsenal, but ended up at Chelsea, so my question is: 'Is he happy about that?' I’m not sure.
"But definitely he would add quality to their squad. I hope that he will be successful over at Chelsea."
After missing out on Mudryk, Arsenal signed Leandro Trossard from Brighton instead. The Belgian has enjoyed some terrific form at the Amex Stadium this season so Mikel Arteta will be hoping that he can do just as well as Chelsea's new star.
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