Inside Mudryk’s £88m deal to join Chelsea including £20.5m to soldiers fighting Russia and friendly in Ukraine
THE INCREDIBLE details of Mykhailo Mudryk’s £88million move to Chelsea have been revealed.
The Ukrainian winger officially sealed his transfer to Chelsea over the weekend after the Blues usurped their London rivals Arsenal.
The 22-year-old was at Stamford Bridge yesterday in a VIP box to watch his new teammates beat Crystal Palace 1-0.
Chelsea confirmed the transfer in a statement and Mudryk has signed an incredible eight-and-a-half year deal.
It is understood Chelsea will pay £62m up front, with up to £26m in performance-related add-ons, taking the potential total to an eye-watering £88m.
Now Shakhtar president Rinat Akhmetov has provided full details of the transfer package, revealing the Premier League club have agreed to play them in a friendly in Donetsk as part of the deal.
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And Akhmetov is also giving £20.5m of the transfer fee to Ukrainian soldiers to help them fight the invading Russian troops in their homeland.
Akhmetov said: “FC Shakhtar has signed a final agreement with Chelsea FC and thus Ukrainian footballer Mykhaylo Mudryk will continue his career with the Blues in the strongest national championship, the English Premier League.
“First and foremost, I want to thank the entire civilised world for helping Ukraine.
“Today we are able to talk about Ukrainian football thanks to the Ukrainian army, the Ukrainian people, and the tremendous support of the entire civilised world. Only by joining efforts we will defeat the evil that has come to our homes.
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“I have never made it a secret that my dream is to win European trophies. This means that players like Mudryk should be invited to our club, to our Ukrainian championship, and we should win European trophies with such players, rather than root for them, even when they play in the world's top clubs.
“Unfortunately, it is impossible now, as Ukraine is fighting the horrendous and unjust war waged against us by the Russian Federation. But I am confident that we will win.
“And we will play a friendly against Chelsea at Donbass Arena in a Ukrainian Donetsk.”
Akhmetov added: “That is why I have made a decision to launch the Heart of Azovstal, a project designed to help Mariupol defenders and the families of fallen soldiers. Their acts of bravery are unparalleled in the modern history.
“I am allocating $25 million [£20.5m] today to help our soldiers, defenders, and their families. The money will be used to cover different needs — from providing medical and prosthetic treatment and psychological support to meeting specific requests.
“To ensure transparency, the project will have a professional independent team that will be in touch with the Azovstal defenders, their families, care providers, and volunteers.”
After signing on the dotted line, Mudryk said: “I’m so happy to sign for Chelsea.
“This is a huge club, in a fantastic league and it is a very attractive project for me at this stage of my career.
“I’m excited to meet my new team-mates and I’m looking forward to working and learning under Graham Potter and his staff.”
Mudryk held a Ukrainian flag as he was officially unveiled on the pitch on Sunday - less than a year since Russian Roman Abramovich’s reign in charge ended after his country’s invasion of their neighbours in February 2022.
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He announced his intention to sell Chelsea, the club he had owned since 2003, the following month following sanctions from the UK government.
That led to Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital taking over and launching their big-spending spree on new signings.
