Chelsea have beaten Arsenal to the signing of top transfer target Mykhaylo Mudryk with a remarkable 11th-hour hijacking bid. The Gunners were growing confident that they would sign the Shakhtar winger but it is west London where he is heading in a deal worth up to £89million. A medical is understood to be imminent.
The Blues have been strongly linked with a renewed bid for Marcus Thuram after new signing Joao Felix was quickly banned for a red card on his debut. Noni Madueke is another target as well as Moises Caicedo.
Tottenham are still at loggerheads with Sporting CP over Pedro Porro, but they have been handed a major boost in their bid to sign Leandro Trossard. Wout Weghorst’s move to Manchester United has been confirmed, while Lionel Messi could apparently follow great rival Cristiano Ronaldo to Saudi Arabia in another blockbuster deal worth £245million a year. Follow all the latest transfer news, rumours and gossip live below!
Live updates
Chelsea to complete Mudryk signing TOMORROW
Another Mudryk update from Fabrizio Romano.
Chelsea want to complete the signing of the player TOMORROW.
Arsenal woke up this morning confident of sealing the deal, but could see the player holding a Chelsea flag just 48 hours later. My word.
Liverpool ponder Neves bid
Liverpool are considering making a move for Ruben Neves, who could be available on the cheap as he has 18 months left on his contract.
According to the Mirror, Jurgen Klopp is a big admirer and is keen to bolster his midfield after another humbling defeat today.
Very interesting.
What (who) next for Arsenal?
This is a hammer blow for Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta and sporting director Edu, who are now back to the drawing board after spending three weeks tracking Mudryk.
Who will they target next? It remains to be seen, but Youri Tielemans has been of interest as recently as last summer and is available on cut-price deal from Leicester.
They are also expected to announce contract extensions for both Bukayo Saka and William Saliba.
Mykhaylo Mudryk is already on a plane to London to finalise his move to Chelsea.
That’s according to Fabrizio Romano, who adds that Mudryk has agreed a seven-and-a-half-year deal with Chelsea, running until 2030.
What does this mean for Chelsea’s interest in Madueke and Thuram?
Chelsea reporter Nizaar Kinsella says: “Good question… time to find out, but it needs Mudryk to complete the medical still so not quite done.”
Interesting.
Chelsea BEAT Arsenal to Mudryk!
Chelsea have agreed a stunning £89million deal to sign Mykhaylo Mudryk under the noses of Arsenal, who had made the Shakhtar Donetsk winger their top transfer target.
The Gunners were confident heading into the weekend of finally wrapping up a deal for the 22-year-old, having told the Ukrainian giants they would pay £60m up front for the winger.
However, Chelsea quickly launched an attempt to hijack the deal on Saturday, flying a contingency out to Shakhtar’s training camp to successful snare one of Europe’s most sought-after talents.
Chelsea will pay £62m up front and a further £37m in add-ons.
The player had preferred a move to Arsenal up until today but has now agreed to move to Stamford Bridge. He is now expected to fly to London to complete a medical.
Mykhaylo Mudryk STILL prefers Arsenal
Still, there is some good news for Arsenal fans on the Mykhaylo Mudryk front.
Despite Chelsea making moves to hijack the move in an £88m deal, the player himself could have other ideas.
According to Miguel Delaney, Mudryk would still prefer to move to the Emirates.
Mudryk to Chelsea transfer update
Chelsea really are going for the Mudryk signing.
Romano has followed up with more information on the Blues’ pursuit of Arsenal’s top transfer target.
Chelsea have now opened talks over an £88m move and are eager to leapfrop the Gunners.