Chelsea struck a blow this Sunday on the transfer market. The Blues have secured Mykhailo Mudryk, the 21-year-old Ukrainian winger previously owned by Shakhtar Donestk.
To secure his services and get ahead of Arsenal, who still held the rope on Saturday, the new American owners of Chelsea took out the checkbook. “The clubs have agreed on the details of the transfer: Shakhtar will receive 70 million euros for the player and 30 million euros in bonuses are considered”revealed the Ukrainian club, on its website.
“We are delighted to welcome Mykhailo to Chelsea. He is an extremely promising talent and we believe he will be a major addition to our team now and for years to come.”explained the club’s co-owners, chairman Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali.
“I am so happy to sign for Chelsea. It’s a huge club, a fantastic league and a very attractive project for me at this stage of my career.“, reacted for his part the player.
‘The third best left winger in Europe’
Trained at Shaktar, Mudryk made his debut on October 31, 2018 in the Ukrainian Cup, but it was not until 2021 that the twirling left winger really exploded at the highest level. A revelation that the soon-to-be 22-year-old Ukrainian (he will have them on February 5) owes a coach: Roberto de Zerbi.
“When Roberto signed up (in July 2021), Mykhaylo was the first player he called up. He was only 20 years old! The coach told him: ‘If you don’t become a super player with me, you never will. Because I believe in you, in your qualities“, says Darijo Srna, the sporting director of Shaktar in an interview with L’Équipe in September 2022.
Under his command, the left winger reveals himself in the eyes of Europe and inscored two goals and provided seven assists from July to December 2021. After the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, football is put on hold. Orphaned by his coach, Mykhailo Mudryk hasn’t lowered his level of performance, however, as he has been decisive 18 times this season in 18 games.
Considered a nugget by his club which considers him the third best left winger in Europe “behind Mbappé and Vinicius Jr“for his style of play, both very fast (flashing at 36.6 km/h against Celtic, making him the fastest in the group stage of the Champions League) and hard-hitting, but also very effective, as evidenced by his statistics. Predispositions confirmed by Roberto de Zerbi: “Mudryk is a fantastic player, I think he can win the Ballon d’Or in the future.”he explained.
