Chelsea have blown Arsenal out of the water in the race to sign Mykhailo Mudryk by offering the player and his club Shakhtar Donetsk huge money.
According to Nicolo Schira, Chelsea owner Todd Boehly has offered massively improved terms both with regards to transfer fee and salary, compared to what Arsenal have so far presented.
Arsenal made their first official offer for the 21-year-old last week, offering a fixed fee of around €40m which would rise to €62m with bonuses.
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However, Shakhtar immediately rejected the bid and sensationally told Arsenal that they expected a bid close to the €118m that Man City paid for Jack Grealish in 2021. It is widely reported that Shakhtar are in reality hoping to get around €100m.
Chelsea are now trying to hijack the deal and have massively outrumped Arsenal’s opening bid, according to Schira, and are putting on the table an €80m offer. Other sources add that Boehly is ready to pay substantially more than Arsenal if the Gunners come back with better offers.
As for salary, Chelsea also have a much better offer on the table. Mudryk had already agreed personal terms with Arsenal of €5.5m per year plus bonuses on a contract until 2028.
But Boehly will offer Mudruk wages of €7.5m per year, which would earn the player more than €10m more over his contract in basic salary.
The Blues have begun talks with Shakhtar Donetsk for Mudryk and, according to The Sun, the Ukrainian side’s director and club legend Darijo Srna will meet Chelsea officials in London to discuss the move in the coming hours.
Fabrizio Romano adds that Srna is expected to be present at Chelsea’s match against Man City at Stamford Bridge on Thursday evening.
Mudryk had been expected to join Arsenal in January, as the Gunners have been in negotiations for the winger since last summer.
But they are now very much in danger of losing the player to Chelsea.
The 21-year-old is considered as one of the most exciting young wingers in Europe and his former Shakhtar boss Roberto De Zerbi – now at Brighton – recently said he is a future Ballon d’Or winner.
Mudryk has been in superb form for Shakhtar this season, scoring eight goals and making 10 assists from 18 games.