Arsenal confident Chelsea’s Mudryk hijack will fail

Carlo Garganese

• 8 Jan 2023 14:50 GMT
• 3 min read

Arsenal are confident that Chelsea’s attempted hijacking of Mykhailo Mudryk will fail, according to Fabrizio Romano.

Mudryk had been expected to join Arsenal in January, as the Gunners have been in negotiations for the winger since last summer.

But there have been fears over the last week that they may lose the player to Chelsea, who have made their own move for the Shakhtar Donetsk winger.

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What did Romano say about Mudryk?

“Of course Arsenal are confident, and Arteta too,” Romano wrote in his CaughtOffside column..

“But reaching an agreement with Shakhtar is crucial, they were so strong in negotiations also in August when they turned down €30 million from Everton when it sounded like a great bid.

“No deadlines have been mentioned in the negotiations, as of now; talks continue.”

Arsenal made their first official offer for the 21-year-old last week, offering a fixed fee of around €40m which would rise to €62m with bonuses.

However, Shakhtar immediately rejected the bid and sensationally told Arsenal that they expected a bid close to the €118m that Man City paid for Jack Grealish in 2021. It is widely reported that Shakhtar are in reality hoping to get around €100m.

Chelsea are now trying to hijack the deal and, according to transfer journalist Nicolo Schira, are putting on the table an €80m offer. Other sources add that Boehly is ready to pay substantially more than Arsenal if the Gunners come back with better offers.

As for salary, Chelsea also have a much better offer on the table. Mudryk had already agreed personal terms with Arsenal of €5.5m per year plus bonuses on a contract until 2028.

But Boehly will offer Mudruk wages of €7.5m per year, which would earn the player more than €10m more over his contract in basic salary.

Mudryk is understood to still prefer to join Arsenal, something he has made clear on his social media posts in recent weeks.

The 21-year-old is considered as one of the most exciting young wingers in Europe and his former Shakhtar boss Roberto De Zerbi - now at Brighton - recently said he is a future Ballon d’Or winner.

Mudryk has been in superb form for Shakhtar this season, scoring eight goals and making 10 assists from 18 games.