Boehly set to ruin Arteta dream as Chelsea hijack Arsenal deal by tabling £85m bid for star

Arsenal are in serious danger of missing out in the race to sign Mykhaylo Mudryk with Chelsea seemingly nudging ahead of them in the battle to sign the Ukrainian star.

The Shakhtar forward finds himself in hot demand ahead of the January window on the back of an excellent season so far. The 21-year-old has been involved in 18 goals in as many games this season, underlining his enormous potential. Five of those have come from six Champions League outings too, proving that Mudryk can cut it at the highest level.

However, securing his signing is unlikely to be easy for his suitors. Shakhtar have regularly pointed to the £85m fee paid by Manchester United for Antony, suggesting their man is a better player.

And that chase is seemingly led by Arsenal. Mudryk himself has made clear his wish to sign for the Gunners, who have been tracking him since last summer.

Undeterred by Shakhtar’s valuation, Arsenal have this week launched an opening offer to sign Mudryk. And while their initial £57m gambit has been batted away, there remains an optimism that Arsenal can still seal the deal.

Sadly for the Gunners though, that belief has filtered away in recent days. And despite a confidence that a deal can be struck, Arsenal have since learned that Shakhtar are standing by their initial £85m asking price.

Now it seems Mikel Arteta’s dream of landing Mudryk is fading fast. That’s amid a report in The Guardian that claims Chelsea are plotting to hijack the transfer.

Their co-owner Todd Boehly is reportedly a massive admirer of Mudryk and is seemingly willing to meet Shakhtar’s asking price.

Arsenal preparing for Mykhaylo Mudryk transfer blow

News of Chelsea’s interest will come as a huge blow for Arsenal.

The Gunners are looking for additional firepower with a wide forward Arteta’s No 1 priority. While Gabriel Martinelli and Bukayo Saka have been in sensational form this season, they do lack quality cover.

And with Gabriel Jesus suffering a knee injury and facing around three months out, Arteta wants an extra frontman to boost his options.

To that end, a deal for Mudryk was seen as the perfect scenario. Eddie Nketiah is now their only fit, senior centre forward. However, both Mudryk or even Martinelli are capable of covering there.

But a deal to take Mudryk to Stamford Bridge would ruin that plan.

Chelsea do have deeper pockets than Arsenal and seeing their top target move to their London rivals would prove a bitter pill to swallow.

The Blues spent around £280m over the summer as Boehly looked to make his mark at Chelsea. However, there are few signs of that spending easing. Indeed, a deal for Christopher Nkunku is already in place for the summer.

Chelsea also want to recruit Enzo Fernandez in January, with Saturday’s Transfer Gossip providing an update on that deal.

But the biggest signing of the lot could yet arrive in the form of Mudryk.

And with Shakhtar’s valuation putting off Arsenal, it seems Chelsea are more than ready to meet those demands.

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