Arsenal legend aims dig at Chelsea over Mudryk

Jacque Talbot

• 16 Jul 2023 14:25 BST
• 3 min read

Arsenal legend Alan Smith has slammed Chelsea’s transfer dealings while claiming that they only bought Mykhailo Mudryk to ‘pinch’ him from the Gunners.

The former striker has spoken out after the Blues spent more than £600m on signings over the past year, blasting their approach as ‘haphazard’.

The Ukraine international was heavily linked with a move to Arsenal in January but the side did not wish to pay the fee that Shakhtar Donetsk demanded.

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Chelsea came in and paid almost £90m to bring him to Stamford Bridge, making the attacker one of the most expensive Premier League signings in history.

Alan Smith blasts Chelsea

The 22-year-old still has not scored for Chelsea in 17 appearances - and Smith believes his move to the side is a testament to the club’s poor spending in the market.

“It’s been such a haphazard approach to signing players, it’s been really scattergun,” he told Gambling Zone. “I don’t think there was any method to their business last season.

“The signing of Mudryk is a great example of that. Arsenal was interested and they thought they’d pinch him off their London rivals.”

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The Sky Sports commentator continued: “Chelsea have collected all these players. It looks like something Pochettino and the club are trying to sort out.

“Koulibaly came in last summer, now he’s gone. Some of the lads that have come through the ranks, they’ve been moved on and it appears like more of them might be on the way out of the club.

“Mason Mount and Ruben Loftus-Cheek have left, which is a shame because clubs don’t like to lose academy players that have come through the ranks.

‘They need to get back to more of an organized approach. With so much movement in and out of the team, I think it’s going to be hard for Pochettino.”