Shakhtar donate £20.5m to Ukraine soldiers following Mudryk transfer

Karan Tejwani

• Updated: 16 Jan 2023 15:31 GMT
• 2 min read

Chelsea completed a swoop for Mykhailo Mudryk on Sunday, getting him from under the noses of London rivals Arsenal for a mega fee.

The Blues signed the player in £88 million deal from Shakhtar Donetsk and are excited by the winger’s quality and potential for the future.

Chelsea were quick to move for him and get him from Arsenal after their management flew out to Poland for talks with Shakthar Donetsk.

Less than 24 hours later, the Ukrainian club confirmed that they have agreed to donate £20.5m to Ukrainian soldiers as they fend off the invasion by Russia.

READ: The forgotten Chelsea star who could fall victim to Mudryk

In their official statement about the donation, Shakhtar president Rinat Akhmetov said: “FC Shakhtar has signed a final agreement with Chelsea FC and thus Ukrainian footballer Mykhaylo Mudryk will continue his career with the Blues in the strongest national championship, the English Premier League.

Mudryk fee to be donated

“First and foremost, I want to thank the entire civilised world for helping Ukraine. Today we are able to talk about Ukrainian football thanks to the Ukrainian army, the Ukrainian people, and the tremendous support of the entire civilised world. Only by joining efforts we will defeat the evil that has come to our homes."

The statement then spoke about the desire to see football in Ukraine and then Akhmetov declared that he would make a sizeable donation to Ukrainian forces.

READ: Mudryk, Neymar and the 10 most expensive wingers of all time

“That is why I have made a decision to launch the Heart of Azovstal, a project designed to help Mariupol defenders and the families of fallen soldiers. Their acts of bravery are unparalleled in the modern history.

“I am allocating $25 million [£20.5m] today to help our soldiers, defenders, and their families. The money will be used to cover different needs — from providing medical and prosthetic treatment and psychological support to meeting specific requests.”

It was also revealed that Chelsea agreed to play a friendly in Ukrainian Donbass against Shakhtar Donetsk when it is safe to do so.

Shakhtar Donetsk haven’t played at the Donbass Arena since 2014 when they were forced to vacate it as a result of the escalating tensions between Ukraine and Russia.