Mykhaylo Mudryk joined Chelsea in a whopping £88m deal last month which made him a part of the club’s crazy spending spree. However, there was more than just money to Mudryk’s move to Stamford Bridge, as it seemed he was rather set for a transfer to Chelsea’s local rivals Arsenal. The Gunners were frontrunners for his signature, before Chelsea entered the equation and changed it completely.
But Mudryk’s former coach, Andres Carrasco who oversaw the winger’s development at Shakhtar’s U19 team between 2018 and 2019 has opined that the 22-year-old should have rather stayed with his earlier decision of joining Arsenal. It was quite evident from his animations that Mykhaylo Mudryk had his heart set on a move to north London, but headed to west London after Chelsea intervened.
Carrasco verdicts Mikel Arteta and Arsenal were more suited for Mykhaylo Mudryk
Arsenal did everything possible, in their limits to try and sign Mykhaylo Mudryk from Shakhtar. The Gunners were the first ones to approach him, when they first established contact with him in October last year. The winger too looked keen on a move to Arsenal, as he constantly posted pictures of him watching their games. He also had praised Mikel Arteta who indeed has been doing a brilliant job at the Emirates Stadium.
But Arsenal had made it clear that they were not going to get bullied by Shakhtar into paying what Chelsea paid for Mudryk- £88m which made him the Ukrainian club’s record sale. It was also shocking to see Mudryk so quickly change his allegiance from Arsenal to Chelsea, despite even agreeing personal terms with the Gunners on a five-year deal. However, Carrasco, who played a key role in shaping Mudryk’s career tell Ukrainian website Tribuna:
“This is a club [Chelsea] that has been changing recently. But it is good for Mudryk to be in a club that always expects maximum results. Now he needs to go through a period of adaptation. And only time will tell if it was the right decision for him or not. Today, Arsenal, with its style of play, could be more suitable for Mudryk, who successfully uses dribbling and plays one-on-one. It would be better for him, in my opinion.”
As evident, Carrasco seems to be a bit perplexed by his former player’s choice. But his assessment of the two London clubs is not completely wrong since Chelsea are indeed struggling in the tenth place in the Premier League, ten points adrift of the top four and a staggering 21 behind league leaders Arsenal. Mykhaylo Mudryk, who could have found himself fighting fir the title with the Gunners, will instead have to look forward to helping Chelsea move up the table.
He made his much awaited Chelsea debut against Liverpool at Anfield last month, where he absolutely stunned the crowd with a scorching second-half performance. Graham Potter has only been in charge for a little under five months at Stamford Bridge, but has already had a lot of topsy-turvy experiences. He is now tasked with bringing the best out of Chelsea’s second-most expensive signing of winter market after the £106m acquisition of Enzo Fernandez.
Potter’s reign at Chelsea began with a nine-game unbeaten streak, but has seen him guide the club to a mere 3 victories in their last 12 games in all competitions. While the record-breaking spending spree by Todd Boehly and the ownership may have diverted focus from the club’s on field struggles, they are now under the pressire to do justice to the money spent and host of players brought in.