Mykhailo Mudryk: Shakhtar make Arsenal tapping up claim

Robin Bairner

• Updated: 23 May 2023 09:01 CDT
• 4 min read

Shakhtar Donetsk’s CEO has accused Arsenal of tapping up Mykhailo Mudryk before the Ukraine international completed a transfer to Chelsea.

Mudryk seemed destined to sign for the Gunners but instead completed a move to Stamford Bridge, with the Blues acting swiftly to get the deal over the line.

The final hours of the transfer were marked by Shakhtar taking social media pot shots towards Mikel Arteta’s club, and Sergei Palkin has now hinted at why, with the CEO unhappy with Arsenal’s behaviour during the race for the 22-year-old.

MORE: Arsenal eye Chelsea star as possible Mudryk alternative

Palkin has claimed that Mudryk was never near a move to Arsenal, and the hype was generated by the Gunners moving too soon for the player.

“From my point of view, this is why everybody talked about Arsenal: it is because Arsenal contacted the player almost one and a half months before they contacted us,” he told The Athletic.

“Can you imagine, for example, what it’s like to have Mikel Arteta, Oleksandr Zinchenko and the sporting director [Edu] calling you - to have Arsenal calling you almost every day, every two days, every three days?

MORE: 'Arsenal offered same as Chelsea' - How Mudryk deal was hijacked

“You can want or not want the move but you follow this kind of reception and contacts.

“If you talk about Chelsea, they called me at the end of December and asked if they can contact Mudryk because they are interested in him and want to talk with him. I said: ‘No problem, you can contact him.’

MORE: Fabrizio Romano attacked by Arsenal fans after Mudryk transfer

“The first time they contacted him was around the end of December or the start of January. They contacted the player and the agent of the player and they met the financial conditions.

“Why did many people around it have the impression that Mudryk was going to Arsenal? It is because Arsenal contacted him and then Mudryk started to watch some games of Arsenal.

“But negotiations are negotiations. When you didn’t close everything, when you did not (close) the last dot, then you cannot finish the deal. Therefore, it was just an outside visual impression that Mudryk is close to Arsenal.”

Shakhtar, though, have decided not to follow the matter up with FIFA.

“When I met Arsenal and they mentioned they had already talked to the player and they had contacted the player, to be honest, I knew beforehand that they had started to contact him,” Palkin revealed. “I said: ‘OK, you start to contact him but first of all you should close it with us.’ But OK, we have what we have.

“We didn’t make a formal complaint. They did what they did.”

Mudryk ultimately completed a transfer to Chelsea, who were willing to match Shakhtar’s €100 million asking price where Arsenal were not.

What is tapping up in football?

Tapping up is the process of a team getting in touch with a player who is contracted to another club and would not normally be allowed to speak to them regarding a transfer without prior permission. It is the process of illicitly bypassing the player’s current employers.

The Premier League’s official definition is: “Subject to Rule T.7, a contract player, either by himself or by any person on his behalf, shall not either directly or indirectly make any such approach as is referred to in Rule T.5 without having obtained the prior written consent of his club.”

This would not apply to a player in the last six months of his contract when the club making the approach is affiliated to a football association in a different country.

Meanwhile, this also shows a player can agree personal terms with a club before a transfer fee has agreed between the two sides, provided they have the written consent of the club they are contracted to.

Ironically, the most famous case of tapping up also involves Arsenal and Chelsea, with the Blues signing Ashley Cole for the Gunners in 2005. Cole and erstwhile Blues manager Jose Mourinho were fined £100,000 each, while Chelsea were slapped with a £300,000 punishment.