Chelsea willing to ‘trump’ any Arsenal offer in Mykhaylo Mudryk pursuit

Arsenal may have suffered a blow in their pursuit of Shakhtar Donetsk’s Mykhaylo Mudryk, with The Independent reporting that Chelsea have now made it clear to the Ukrainian club that they are willing to trump any offer that their London rivals make. However, it is believed that the winger favours a move to the Emirates Stadium.

Arsenal have been deep in negotiations over a move for Mudryk in recent weeks and have seen two bids - reaching up to £62m - turned down by Shakhtar, however they are yet to give up the pursuit. The 21-year-old has made his desperationt to join the club clear and has continued to tease fans on his social media accounts after already agreeing personal terms with the current Premier League leaders.

However, Arsenal’s only remaining issue is the transfer fee and this is where Chelsea are looking to take advantage of their finances. Shakhtar are reportedly demanding a whopping £88m to tempt them to sell Mudryk, meaning they are over £17m apart in valuation. Meanwhile, the Blues are likely to be open to forking out for Mudryk’s price tag and will look to ‘blow [Arsenal] out the water’ where necessary.

Todd Boehly’s arrival at Stamford Bridge in May 2022 made Chelsea the third richest club in the Premier League (£10.86bn) behind Man City and Newcastle United, while Arsenal sit in fourth (£6.35bn) - meaning the Gunners are unlikely to want to get into a bidding war with their local rivals. They certainly hold an advantage of Mudryk being eager to team up with Mikel Arteta, however they will need to be willing to splash a bit more cash if they are to ensure they win the race this month.

The Ukrainian could also be joined by Joao Felix if he is to make the switch in the January transfer window after the forward was left out of Atletico Madrid’s matchday squad to face Oviedo tonight. The Daily Mail have reported that the Gunners are currently leading the race to sign Felix, who joined the Spanish outfit for £114m in 2019.