Chelsea pinched Mykhaylo Mudryk from Arsenal over the weekend, and they used every negotiating tactic in the book to get a deal done.
They outbid the Gunners, they offered a ridiculously long contract, and during discussions, they even told Mudryk why life at the Emirates wouldn’t be so rosy after all.
Indeed, the Blues negotiating chiefs were quick to sell a move to Chelsea to Mudryk by playing down what life at Arsenal could have been like for him.
In fact, the Blues used one Arsenal player in particular to try and help them sign Mudryk – Gabriel Martinelli.
According to The Athletic, Chelsea reportedly told Mudryk that he may not get much gametime at Arsenal if he joined the Gunners due to Martinelli’s ability down the left wing.
To be fair, the Blues probably weren’t wrong.
Martinelli has been absolutely brilliant for Arsenal this season, and it’s fair to say that Mudryk probably wouldn’t have immediately have been first-choice ahead of him if he’d headed to the Emirates.
Rotation is huge for a team battling for the title, but so is having an established first XI, and there are very few players in world football who could dislodge Martinelli at Arsenal right now.
However, while Mudryk was sold this story by Chelsea, he may not have considered his chances of getting into the Blues’ first-team either.
Chelsea also have their fair share of talented left-wingers with Raheem Sterling and Christian Pulisic amongst the most notable, and it’s not ridiculous to suggest that he won’t be first-choice at Chelsea either, especially as a narrower formation with Mason Mount, Joao Felix and Kai Havertz in the team has been favoured as of late.
Chelsea used Martinelli’s ability to put Mudryk off Arsenal, but perhaps the Ukrainian should’ve considered the fact that Sterling and Pulisic may also provide stiff competition at Stamford Bridge.
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