Arteta and Zinchenko 'called Mudryk almost EVERY DAY'

Mikel Arteta and Oleksandr Zinchenko ‘called Mykhailo Mudryk almost EVERY DAY – and contacted him six weeks before Arsenal even approached Shakhtar’ – as they desperately tried to convince the Ukrainian winger to sign before Chelsea hijacked the deal

  • Arsenal target Mykhailo Mudryk signed for Chelsea in a deal worth £88.6million
  • Shakhtar CEO Sergei Palkin has made a series of revelations since Mudryk left 
  • Arteta, Zinchenko contacted him months before Arsenal approached Shakhtar
  • Palkin has claimed that the Arsenal duo contacted Mudryk ‘almost every day’ 

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta and defender Oleksandr Zinchenko reportedly called Mykhailo Mudryk every day as they desperately tried to sign the Ukrainian winger before he signed for Chelsea.

The Blues hijacked the deal for Arsenal’s top January target – signing the 22-year-old highly-rated winger for £88.6m last Sunday. 

Shakhtar Donetsk CEO Sergei Palkin has claimed Arteta and Zinchenko made contact with Mudryk almost two months before Arsenal approached Shakhtar. 

Chelsea signed 22-year-old Mykhailo Mudryk for £88.6m on an eight-and-a-half-year deal last Sunday


Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta and defender Oleksandr Zinchenko reportedly called Mykhailo Mudryk every day as they desperately tried to sign him

‘Arsenal contacted the player almost one-and-a-half months before they contacted us,’ he told The Athletic.

‘Can you imagine, for example, to have Mikel Arteta, Oleksandr Zinchenko and the sporting director calling you, to have Arsenal calling you almost every day, every two days, every three days?

‘You can want or not want the move, but you follow this kind of reception and contacts.’

The Gunners had appeared to be in the driving seat for the Ukrainian forward before Chelsea stole in at the 11th hour to sign Mudryk on a massive eight-and-a-half year deal.

Shakhtar Donetsk CEO Sergei Palkin has made a series of revelations since Mudryk left the club

Mudryk has been training with his new Chelsea team-mates ahead of the Blues’ trip to Anfield

In the same interview, Palkin revealed that Shakhtar rejected a bid from Arsenal which, including add-ons, matched Chelsea’s £88m bid.

It came after Chelsea’s co-owner Behdad Eghbali and director of global transfers Paul Winstanley travelled to Turkey on Saturday, where Shakhtar are training, and returned to London with the player on their private jet. 

Mudryk was unveiled to fans at Stamford Bridge for Chelsea’s clash with Crystal Palace on the weekend.

He entered the pitch draped in a Ukrainian flag less than a year after Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich’s reign at the helm of the club came to an end following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. 

Following sanctions from the UK government, Abramovich announced his intention to sell the club he had owned since 2003, leading to Todd Boehly’s and Clearelake Capital’s takeover and a stream of big-money signings since.

Palkin believes selling Mudryk to the club under former owner Roman Abramovich would have been ‘maybe impossible’.




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