Mudryk given scathing assessment by Arsenal legend after Chelsea transfer hijack

Robin Bairner

• 22 Feb 2023 11:41 GMT
• 3 min read

Arsenal legend Paul Merson has trolled Chelsea over their purchase of Shakhtar Donetsk winger Mykhailo Mudryk.

Mudryk had appeared set to join the Gunners in the January transfer window but instead went to Chelsea in a stunning U-turn.

The Ukraine international attacker has played five times for the Blues and has struggled to make an impact, failing to register a goal or an assist in five appearances.

It has been an inauspicious start given that Chelsea splashed out an up-front fee of €70 million on a player who had been performing to a high standard in the Ukrainian league.

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Merson, meanwhile, has suggested that Mudryk is destined to be an expensive flop.

“They brought Mykhailo Mudryk for £88m and, bar a cameo of 20 minutes, he's shown nothing. I mean NOTHING,” he told Sky Sports, referring to the possible cost of the deal if the player triggers all the possible bonuses in the deal.

“You wouldn't expect to need time to settle in at that price.”

Mudryk has naturally come under scrutiny given the background to the deal, the money that Chelsea paid for him and the fact that the Blues are totally out of form. Indeed, Graham Potter’s side have failed to register a single victory in a match that Mudryk has played, while they have only scored one goal as a team in the 244 minutes he has been on the field.

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Why did Arsenal miss out on Mudryk?

Arsenal, meanwhile, dropped out of the race for Mudryk in January because they were wary of the price that Shakhtar were demanding for the player.

Technical director Edu and manager Mikel Arteta always had a certain figure in mind for the player that they were going to refuse to go above, yet Chelsea’s valuation of the 22-year-old was higher, which allowed them to complete a transfer that is likely to be long remembered – either for good or bad reasons.