Chelsea star Marc Cucurella backs Mykhaylo Mudryk to be one of the world’s best players after snubbing a transfer to Arsenal. The London rivals fought over a deal during January.
Arsenal and Chelsea both strived to bring Mudryk to the Premier League to improve their attacking options. But the Blues ultimately won the race after they agreed to pay Shakhtar Donetsk £88.5m. The winger also penned a £97k-a-week contract that may run until 2031.
Shakhtar Donetsk chief executive Sergei Palkin recently confirmed to The Athletic that the Gunners also submitted an offer last month. The Emirates Stadium natives were prepared to spend an upfront €70m (£62m). Their bid also featured add-ons worth up to €30m (£26.5m).
Yet Shakhtar Donetsk sporting director Darijo Srna has also confirmed to Football Ramble that Mudryk chose Chelsea’s offer over Arsenal’s. The Ukrainian outfit gave the forward the final say on which offer to accept. In the end, he favoured the move to Stamford Bridge.
Graham Potter is yet to get the best out of Mudryk in west London, though. The 22-year-old has not scored or laid on an assist through five appearances across all competitions. He has also only started in three games and has played a cumulative 244 minutes for Chelsea.
Chelsea star Cucurella backs Mudryk amid criticism from Arsenal icon Merson
Mudryk’s best moments in a Chelsea shirt so far even came during the forward’s debut at Liverpool. Potter introduced the eight-cap Ukraine dynamo for the final 35 minutes of their 0-0 draw at Anfield. But Mudryk wasted two reasonable chances to strike his maiden goal.
Failing to impress in further matches against Fulham, West Ham United and Southampton in the Premier League, plus at Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League, has seen Paul Merson slam Mudryk for offering Chelsea ‘nothing’ since rejecting the transfer to Arsenal.
Yet Cucurella is confident in what the winger can achieve. The left-back has now told GOAL that he believes Mudryk could emerge as the most valuable of Chelsea’s January transfers.
“Maybe Mudryk, [he] is so fast and has a lot of skills,” Cucurella said. “I think he’s a really, really good player. He has the quality to be, in a few years, a top player in the world. He needs to learn and stay happy in his new club.”
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