Mudryk stops Chelsea signing Arsenal star

Carlo Garganese

• Updated: 2 Oct 2024 11:47 BST
• 3 min read

Mykhailo Mudryk stopped Chelsea from signing Arsenal star Declan Rice last year.

Mudryk joined Chelsea for €100 million in January 2023 from Shakhtar Donetsk after the Blues hijacked Arsenal's deal for the winger.

At that time, Chelsea were also interested in signing long-term target Declan Rice from West Ham, according to journalist Simon Phillips.

However, given the cost of Rice was set to be over €100m also, Chelsea had to choose either the Englishman or Mudryk and couldn’t sign both.

In the end, Todd Boehly opted to sign Mudryk instead.

Rice, meanwhile, moved to Arsenal instead that summer for a fee of well over €100m.

There is no doubt who got the better end of the deal as while Rice has been a success at Arsenal, Mudryk has been a disaster at Chelsea.

Mudryk at Chelsea

Since joining Chelsea, Mudryk has managed just seven goals and four assists in 64 appearances amidst a string of poor performances.

Despite boasting blistering pace and dribbling qualities, his technique and decision-making has regularly let him down.

He has fallen well down the pecking order under new manager Enzo Maresca, with new signing Jadon Sancho now moving ahead of him also.

Mudryk was linked with a summer transfer away from Chelsea, and his future remains very much in question ahead of the January window.

Liverpool have been linked with a surprise move for Mudryk in the winter market.

Chelsea have spent over €1 billion on transfers since Todd Boehly bought the club two years ago but the results have not matched the spending.

Chelsea endured a disastrous 2023-24 season as they once again went trophyless, although they did enjoy a decent end to the campaign to ensure they qualified for Europe.

The start to the new campaign has been a little more promising, although Mudryk has played little to no part in that good start as he finds himself very much a squad player.