Chelsea’s board ‘in Poland making an £80MILLION bid to HIJACK Arsenal’s move for Mykhailo Mudryk

Chelsea have agreed a fee with Shakhtar Donetsk for Mykhailo Mudryk after they hijacked Arsenal’s move for the Ukrainian winger. 

Mikel Arteta’s side have long led the chase for the 22-year-old but Chelsea have agreed to pay Shakhtar £62million up front plus a potential £26.5m in add-ons following negotiations in Poland. 

If completed, the eight-cap Ukraine international would become the second most expensive signing in the club’s history.

Chelsea chiefs travelled to Poland in a bid to hijack Arsenal’s move for Mykhailo Mudryk

The Blues are prepared to offer Shakhtar Donetsk £62m up front plus £26.5m in add-ons

Arsenal were prepared to pay in the region of £75m to £80m for Mudryk but Chelsea’s offer of add-ons proved crucial with Shakhtar valuing the player at £88m or more. 

Blues chiefs travelled to Poland and reached an agreement on price for the transfer, gazumping their London rivals in the process. 

Such was the excitement around signing Mudryk, Gunners fans had taken to social media to analyse a recent press conference from Arteta where they believed the Spaniard had dropped a subtle hint that the move was close to coming to fruition. 

Speaking after Monday night’s FA Cup victory over Oxford United, Arteta reaffirmed their desire to bring in attacking reinforcements with summer signing Gabriel Jesus still unavailable after suffering an injury on international duty at the World Cup.

‘The problem is that we have only one striker and to cope for that many months until Gabby is back is not easy,’ he said.

‘But we have to get the most out of the players that we have at the moment. If we can have some reinforcements, great.’