Mykhailo Mudryk is a finished story for Arsenal. The Ukrainian winger was highjacked by Chelsea in the last minute and signed a long term contract with the Blues. And after the deal was revealed to be 100 million euros but with 20 million set aside for the Ukrainian army, Shakhtar’s chief executive Sergei Palkin rushed in to explain who the deal ended up being with Chelsea rather than Arsenal. And it’s a bit funny, because looking at the current Todd Boehly’s moves, the whole England and Europe are skeptical about Chelsea’s future, but not Palkin, who thinks that winning the Champions League is achievable within the next eight years! The Gunners meanwhile are looking at Barca’s Raphinha. Shakhtar CEO Sergei Palkin: So when they explain to you the whole story and you look for the next two, three, four, five years, then you see they have a serious project. I believe they will build one of the best clubs in the world because I am telling you, they are very serious pic.twitter.com/lNEP65K7JJ— Ismeal Ntefuni (@Ntefuni13) January 17, 2023 Even thou Arsenal are currently at the top of the Premier League and Chelsea are 10th, Palkin sees a long-term success for the Blues, and believes that winning the Champions League is achievable in the next eight years, which is one of the conditions for the additional bonuses in this transfer. “When Arsenal proposed the final offer of 70 million plus 30million euros in add-ons, we sat down and started to talk internally. We realized we will not close this deal and I said to Edu that I did my best but it was not possible. These bonuses should be somehow achievable and realistic, let’s say. Chelsea was much more serious and fair in some points. We realised that, yes, if you look right now, Chelsea have some kinds of problems but it is normal because they have a transition period from one owner to another. It is understandable. They would like to change a lot. So when they explain to you the whole story and you look for the next two, three, four, five years, then you see they have a serious project” said Palkin. It’s politics after all: 20 million from Mudryk’s transfer going to the Ukrainian armyFor Arsenal, it’s already a finished story and many pundits believe that the reason why they didn’t pursue Mudryk deal more aggressively is because they already had an alternative up in their sleeve. And it seems that Raphinha is that ‘joker’. Diario Sport writes that the Gunners saw a situation in which the Brazilian is not playing regularly, while the Catalans are in need to sell in order to buy somebody, so a deal is possible. And their thought are right, as Barcelona is willing to do a deal, but only for 110 million euros. That sum is quite large, but the Gunners were prepared to give 100 for Mudryk anyway, so…..##NAJAVA_MECA_6955610##
