Shakhtar Donetsk chief executive Sergei Palkin has revealed Chelsea's enticing project as one of a number of reasons as to why Chelsea were able to successfully hijack Arsenal for the transfer of Mykhailo Mudryk. In the biggest story of the January window so far, Chelsea were able to agree terms with Shakhtar for Mudryk after the player seemed destined to join the current Premier League leaders.
The Gunners sent three bids to the Ukrainian club but saw all three rebuffed with Chelsea then arriving on the scene and paying Shakhtar's demands, with favourable and achievable payment instalments and add-ons. Such was the speed of the deal, the 22-year-old was confirmed as a Chelsea player during their match against Crystal Palace at Stamford Bridge on Sunday and then unveiled to fans at half time.
Palkin has now explained many of the unclear details surrounding how the day of Saturday, January 14 developed as, despite arriving at Shakhtar's training camp in Antalya in Turkey, Chelsea appeared from nowhere. Speaking exclusively to Adam Crafton of The Athletic, he said: "I realised two days ago (Saturday) when Chelsea arrived here - the co-owner Behdad Eghbali and (director of global talent and transfers) Paul Winstanley.
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"They came to Antalya in Turkey. Before Chelsea arrived, I did not know they were close, because I communicated with Arsenal in the same way as I had with Chelsea. Even I can tell you more: I met Arsenal more times than Chelsea. Therefore, before this last meeting, Arsenal was close, or a little bit closer to this deal than Chelsea."
Despite Palkin admitting the Gunners were closer, Mudryk signed for Chelsea on an expected £62million deal with an additional £26million in add-ons. Although add-ons are sometimes glossed over in transfer deals, the £26million part of the full package deal was arguably the most crucial factor as to why Shakhtar accepted Chelsea's proposal over Arsenal's.
When comparing the add-ons put forward by Arsenal compared to Chelsea, he said: "Different time (schedule) of the payments, different kinds of bonuses. Yes, we can talk about bonuses, but these bonuses should be somehow achievable and realistic, let’s say. Therefore, in this case, Chelsea was much more serious and fair in some points. When we met Chelsea, we stayed all together."
Alongside the attainable add-ons, Palkin also revealed how long talks with Chelsea went on for and that the club project indicates the ambition in west London, delivering a major prediction on where the club will be in the coming years under the new ownership model.
"For you to understand the context, it was for nine or 10 hours. They invited the player and explained to us the whole project. We realised that, yes, if you look right now, Chelsea have some kinds of problems but it is normal because they have a transition period from one owner to another. It is understandable. They would like to change a lot.
He added: "So when they explain to you the whole story and you look for the next two, three, four, five years, then you see they have a serious project. 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."
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