Chelsea ‘could’ hijack Arsenal’s move for Mykhailo Mudryk — report

Premier League leaders (!) Arsenal have been trying very hard to secure a deal for exciting young winger Mykhailo Mudryk, but have seen their latest bid, reportedly a whopping £45m, rejected by Shakhtar Donetsk.

That has apparently opened up a gap for a few rumors to squeeze through, with The Guardian reporting that Chelsea “could” hijack this operation in a “major coup”. Some have now reported this as a “hope”. Gotta love a game of rumor-telephone. Still, who doesn’t love the smell of a good gazumping in the morning?

Mudryk turns 22 in a few days and has impressed in both the Ukrainian Premier League as well as the Champions League this season, notching a career-high 10 goals already (7 in the league, 3 in Europe). He made his national team debut earlier this calendar year as well.

Shakhtar are said to be holding out for £85m, so they certainly will be hoping that Chelsea do get involved. Though if we learned anything from history, we should probably wait for Arsenal to buy his flight first. (Yes, Willian was technically at Anzhi by then, but he’s more closely associated with Shakhtar from his pre-Chelsea days.)