Chelsea have confirmed the signing of Shakhtar Donetsk forward Mykhaylo Mudryk for a fee in the region of £88million including add-ons. The 22-year-old was heavily lined with a move to Arsenal over the past six months but will wear the colours of Chelsea blue.
Mudryk arrives on an eight-and-a-half year contract after Chelsea and Shakhtar agreed on a deal that will see an initial £62million paid followed by £26million in add-ons. The Ukrainian joins Joao Felix, Andrey Santos, Benoit Badiashile and David Datro Fofana through the door this month.
"I'm so happy to sign for Chelsea," the winger said. "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."
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Mudryk's move to Stamford Bridge throws a spanner into Mikel Arteta's January plans at Arsenal, after the Gunners spent the majority of the window in negotiations with Shakhtar themselves. The forward had been prioritised by technical director Edu in a bid to bolster the attacking options within Arteta's side.
Arsenal made two separate bids for the Shakhtar forward but reportedly never reached their valuation of Mudryk. And within a couple of hours, reports emerged that Chelsea had agreed a deal with the Ukraine side before announcing the forward's arrival during their Premier League clash against Crystal Palace.
One player who would have been excited by Mudryk's arrival to the Emirates Stadium is Oleksandr Zinchenko. The Gunners left-back plays with the forward at the Ukraine national team while his wife conducted an interview with Mudryk, where he dropped a number of hints at a move to Arsenal.
There was confusion ahead of the game with Zinchenko appearing to have unfollowed his Ukraine teammate on Instagram following the transfer - with the now-Chelsea star disappearing from the list of followed accounts on Zinchenko's profile.
However, Zinchenko showed no signs of disappointment on Sunday evening with a great performance in the Gunners' 2-0 north London victory over Tottenham. The 26-year-old was one of numerous impressive stars for Arteta's side against their local rivals, keeping Dejan Kulusevski quiet throughout.
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