Chelsea Acquires Shakhtar Donetsk Forward For £89 Million
Chelsea acquires Shakhtar Donetsk forwardfor £89 million. Mykhailo Mudryk, a forward for Ukraine, has officially moved to Chelsea after completing his transfer from Shakhtar Donetsk. The transfer could be worth as much as £89 million.
The Agreement
The 22-year-old will receive a base salary of 70 million euros (£62 million) over the course of an eight and a half year contract, in addition to an additional 30 million euros (£27 million) in bonuses.
Chelsea SIGN Mykhailo Mudryk from Shakhtar Donetsk for £88.5m ✍️🔵
Mudryk said:
“„I'm so happy to sign for Chelsea.- Mykhailo Mudryk
Mudryk, who played for Shakhtar this season and scored seven goals in 12 league appearances, was another player that Arsenal was interested in.
Mudryk added:
“„This is a huge club, in a fantastic league and it is a very attractive project for me at this stage of my career. I'm excited to meet my new team-mates and I'm looking forward to working and learning under Graham Potterand his staff.- Mykhailo Mudryk
Mudryk, who has played for Ukraine eight times since making his international debut in June 2022, was present at Stamford Bridge on Sunday to watch Chelsea's match against Crystal Palace in the Premier League. Chelsea faced Crystal Palace.
Potter said:
“„He is a young player with exciting quality in the final third. He is very fast and direct and I think the crowd will like him.- Potter
It appeared that he would sign with Arsenal, but on Saturday, the club president of Shakhtar, Rinat Akhmetov, met with the co-owner of Chelsea, Behdad Eghbali, to discuss a possible move to Chelsea.
Akhmetov said:
“„I am convinced Mykhailo will win the respect, sympathy and love of all connoisseurs of world footballwith his speed, his technique, his bright and beautiful game.- Akhmetov
After acquiring Joao Felix on loan from Atletico Madrid and making permanent deals with Benoit Badiashile, David Datro Fofana, and Andrey Santos, Chelsea has added Mudryk as their fifth new player since the start of the January transfer window.
Since a group of investors led by the American entrepreneur Todd Boehly took control of Chelsea FootballClub in May 2022, the club's transfer spending has totaled more than £400 million.
Mykhailo Mudryk Facts
Mykhailo Petrovych Mudryk is a professional footballer from Ukraine. He currently plays on the wing for Chelsea, which is a club in the Premier League, as well as for the Ukraine national team.
Mudryk began his professional career by playing for the youth teams of Metalist Kharkiv and Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk academies before joining Shakhtar Donetsk in 2016.
Two years later, he made his debut in the professional league, which was followed by loan stints with Arsenal Kyiv and Desna Chernihiv. He made the move to the English club Chelsea in 2023 for an initial transfer fee of 62 million pounds.
After having previously competed for Ukraine at multiple younger age levels, Mudryk made his senior national team debut in the year 2022.
Mudryk was born in Krasnohrad, Kharkiv Oblast, and raised there. As an Orthodox Christian, he frequently brings religious icons to matches and has openly discussed the importance of faith in his life. Mudryk has several tattoos, but the one that says "Only Jesus" is his favorite.
Mudryk began his footballcareer in 2010 at Metalist Kharkiv. He later transferred to the Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk academy. In 2016, Mudryk transferred to the Shakhtar Donetsk academy. He was a member of Ukraine's national under-17 footballteam from 2017 to 2018.
He played for Ukraine's national under-19 footballteam from 2018 to 2019, appearing in 11 matches and scoring 5 goals. In 2019, he was a member of Ukraine's national under-21 footballteam, appearing in nine matches and scoring one goal. He scored the game-winning free-kick against Armenia on September 7, 2021.
In the 2018-19 season, he was a member of Shakhtar's U21 team. He was a member of the senior team in 2018. Paulo Fonseca gave him his senior debut on October 31, 2018, at the age of 17, in a Ukrainian Cup match against Olimpik Donetsk.
He was loaned to Ukrainian Premier League side Arsenal Kyiv for the remainder of the 2018-19 season in February 2019, playing 10 games without scoring. He competed in the Ukrainian Premier League against Desna Chernihiv, Kolos Kovalivka, and Oleksandriya, helping the team win the championship in the 2019-20 season.
He signed a loan agreement with Ukrainian Premier League club Desna Chernihiv in the summer of 2020 and qualified for the UEFA Europa League third qualifying round. He stayed in Chernihiv for four months and played ten games in the Ukrainian Premier League and one in the Ukrainian Cup.
Final Words
Both the club chairman Boehly and the co-controlling owner Behdad Eghbali expressed their happiness at Mykhailo's decision to join Chelsea, saying:
“„We are delighted to welcome Mykhailo to Chelsea. He's a hugely exciting talent who we believe will be a terrific addition to our squad both now and in the years to come. He will add further depth to our attack and we know he'll get a very warm welcome to London.- Behdad Eghbali