In a dramatic turn of events, Mykhailo Mudryk went from being close to a deal with Arsenal to singing for their rivals Chelsea. TuttoJuve journalist Mirko Di Natale explains what happened exclusively to Get Italian Football News.
When speaking to this site on Friday, Di Natale revealed that Arsenal was still leading the race for Ukrainian winger Mudryk and that to convince Shakhtar, the Gunners would have to make a very high offer on bonuses. That is where Arsenal lost against Chelsea, Di Natale says.
โI can say that, from my info, the difference was really minimal. Arsenal got close to the โฌ100 million requested with a total offer of โฌ95 million (65 as a fixed part and 30 bonus). The real problem were the bonuses. Shakhtar wanted bonuses that were easy to get, and the ones offered by Arsenal werenโt, in the opinion of the Ukrainian club. This was an easy goal to score for Chelsea.โ
Chelseaโs interest in the 22-year-old was already known, but the speed with which they got the deal done with, was seriously impressive. According to Di Natale, the first contacts were made on the occasion of the Manchester City match.
โDirector Srna was in London and had spoken with Chelseaโs board. Only talks, without any official offers. The two sides resumed talking yesterday, all day long. Arsenal were undecided, so Chelsea took advantage of that and satisfied Shakhtarโs conditions of sale without any problems.โ
Mudryk was openly flirting with Arsenal on social media but didnโt need a lot of time to get convinced by one of their rivals. This is difficult to explain for Di Natale.
โTo give the right answer, you would have to be in his head. Murdrykโs dream was to play for a big club. Shakhtar is a big club, but the Premier League certainly has a different allure. Brighton and Brentford had moved for him last summer, but he was waiting for a call from a top club. My idea is Chelsea offered him a better project compared to Arsenal, but weโre waiting for his words to understand the reason for this decision.โ
Get Italian Football News also asked Di Natale if, at any point in the last few months, Italian clubs were interested in Mudryk. He says that Italian teams โnever really believedโ in the Ukrainian.
โInter scouts had viewed him and suggested him to the club, without success. His value was less than โฌ15 million at the time. Juventus and Napoli asked for information in the summer but hadnโt gone further. No Italian club has ever made an official offer for Mudryk.โ
ย
Jurre van Wanrooij | GIFN
ย
