Chelsea have confirmed the signing of Mykhaylo Mudryk after the Blues hijacked Arsenal's proposed move for the Shakhtar Donetsk winger in an £87million transfer.
The 22-year-old has penned a staggering eight-and-a-half year deal at Stamford Bridge and becomes Chelsea's fifth arrival of the January transfer window after Benoit Badiashile, Andrey Santos, David Datro Fofana and Joao Felix. He is expected to wear the No.15 shirt.
In an extraordinary transfer saga, it seemed as though Mudryk was heading for north London after it was revealed the Gunners were close to agreeing a deal for the winger and he actively posed in an Arsenal shirt on social media. They saw two bids of up to £62m rejected for the Ukrainian as Mikel Arteta tried to strengthen his attack with another young, talented attacker.
However, Chelsea have moved swiftly after making their interest known, to bring Mudryk to west London in what will be the Blues' second most expensive signing of all-time behind Romelu Lukaku's £97m move from Inter Milan in August 2021.
Mudryk has become the Blues' third signing in a week in a deal worth an initial £62million, with a further £25million in add-ons. He was at Stamford Bridge to watch Chelsea's Premier League clash with Crystal Palace in Sunday and was unveiled to the crowd at half-time.
Interestingly, the move was announced by Chelsea midway through the first-half.
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Speaking after completing his move, Mudryk told Chelsea's official website: "I'm so happy to sign for Chelsea. This is a huge club, in a fantastic league and it is a very attractive project for me at this stage of my career.
"I’m excited to meet my new team-mates and I’m looking forward to working and learning under Graham Potter and his staff."
Todd Boehly, Chelsea chairman, and Behdad Eghbali, co-controlling owner, added: "We are delighted to welcome Mykhailo to Chelsea. He’s a hugely exciting talent who we believe will be a terrific addition to our squad both now and in the years to come.
"He will add further depth to our attack and we know he’ll get a very warm welcome to London."
Chelsea's statement ended by thanking Shakhtar for "enabling Mykhailo to take up this new opportunity", before welcoming the winger to Stamford Bridge.
Mudryk is the latest exciting attacker to join the club with Raheem Sterling, Hakim Ziyech and Christian Pulisic amongst the plethora of talent at Potter's disposal, as well as new loan signing Joao Felix - sent off on his debut in the 2-1 loss to Fulham on Thursday night.
Mudryk has scored eight goals and provided 10 assists in 18 appearances for Shakhtar so far this season. The talented wide-man also impressed in the Champions League and netted twice against Celtic earlier in the campaign.
