Chelsea secured the £88million signing of Mykhailo Mudryk on Sunday afternoon, putting an end to the transfer saga involving the red and blue side of London. The 22-year-old was understood to be a priority target for Mikel Arteta's side in the January transfer window but it was Todd Boehly's financial strategy that was pivotal in completing the deal.
Mudryk was unveiled at half-time in Chelsea's Premier League fixture against Crystal Palace, a day after co-owner Behdad Eghbali and director of global talent and transfers Paul Winstanley had travelled to Turkey to kick start talks with Shakhtar.
The Ukraine international is the Blues' fifth signing of the January window and the second to arrive amid interest from the Gunners. Joao Felix, who was wanted by Arsenal and Manchester United, arrived last week on a six-month loan deal from Atletico Madrid to fill the blanks left unmarked by Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in attack.
READ MORE: Chelsea's next January transfer decision is already underway following Mykhailo Mudryk deal
According to Shakhtar CEO Sergei Palkin, the Gunners had met with the Ukrainian club more times than Chelsea but the onus of the deal came due to the scheduling of payments and bonuses. Palkin told The Athletic that the Gunners made three offers in total, the last coming last Thursday and reaching the €70m plus €30m asking price.
"Arsenal contacted the player almost one and a half months before they contacted us," Palkin explained. "Can you imagine, for example, to have Mikel Arteta, Oleksandr Zinchenko and the sporting director calling you, to have Arsenal calling you almost every day, every two days, every three days? You can want or not want the move, but you follow this kind of reception and contacts."
However, despite severe interest from the north side of London, Chelsea swooped in after over eight to 10 hours of presentations and talks. The deal was agreed after Shakhtar's satisfaction at the add-ons depending on the Blues lifting the Premier League and Champions League during Mudryk's time at the club. "When they explain to you the whole story and look for the next two, three, four, five years, then you see they have a serious project," Palkin said.
"I believe they will build one of the best clubs in the world because I am telling you, they are very serious in all directions: sports science, the stadium side, the commercial side, on all things. For us, they looked very ambitious."
As mentioned above, the deal to Chelsea was not completed due to the money offered to Mudryk personally. It's understood that the winger will earn around £97,000 a week at Stamford Bridge, with The Athletic claiming Arsenal's offer was 'within £10,000 per week of that'.
Mudryk will earn over £5m a year until at least 2030, a tidy sum for both parties. The move perfectly demonstrates Todd Boehly's long-term plan of fixing the high pay-roll at the club. Paying Mudryk £5m a year, totalling £40m over the eight years of his contract. In contrast , Chelsea paid more in a single fee to sign Raheem Sterling in the summer.
Benoit Badiashile, Andrey Santos and David Datro Fofana all signed long-term contracts, as did Wesley Fofana, Marc Cucurella and Carney Chukwuemeka in the summer. It's a policy expected to continue by the Boehky-Clearlake consortium.
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