Chelsea to ‘test Arsenal nerve’ with huge Mykhaylo Mudryk bid that finally gets close to Shakhtar valuation

The Mykhaylo Mudryk transfer saga could finally be nearing its conclusion, with reports claiming Chelsea are ready to ‘test the nerve’ of Arsenal by submitting a massive offer that gets close to Shakhtar Donetsk’s demands.

Mudryk is keen to depart Shakhtar during the January transfer window. He wants to take the opportunity to join a bigger club and potentially shine in a harder league.

The winger, who mainly operates on the left flank, is very highly rated at his current club. And this is causing major issues for his prospective transfer.

Shakhtar think they should receive a whopping £88million for Mudryk. Arsenal, in contrast, have bid far less for him.

As per Fabrizio Romano, their first offer came in at €40million (£35.3m) plus €20m (£17.6m) in add-ons. After this was rejected, the Gunners returned to the negotiating table with a new proposal worth an initial €50m (£44.2m) plus substantial bonuses.

Once again though, this was not enough to make Shakhtar sing. They soon rejected it and this has put Chelsea in contention to complete a stunning move by getting to the player first.

Shakhtar officials have flown into London to try and get the transfer sorted. After speaking with their counterparts at Arsenal, they will soon discuss the potential deal with those at Chelsea.

The Guardian have now revealed Chelsea’s plans to try and finalise Mudryk’s signing once and for all. They report that Blues majority owner Todd Boehly is ‘hopeful’ of beating Arsenal to the Mudryk deal.

Chelsea to launch major new bid for winger

He is preparing to ‘test Arsenal’s nerve’ by submitting a colossal bid worth £80m in total. That includes an initial £60m outlay, plus £20m in add-ons.

And Chelsea have ‘been left with the impression’ that this amount of money would be enough to capture Mudryk.

This is the first time either Chelsea or Arsenal has decided to get close to Shakhtar’s demands. It is now up to the Ukrainian club to decide whether to accept the bid or hold out for that extra £8m.

Arsenal must also make a big decision in the next day or two. Can they afford to up their bid and get close to what Chelsea are offering, or do they give up and let Mudryk join a London rival?

Mykhaylo Mudryk would prefer Arsenal – but Chelsea now frontrunners

The Guardian state that in order for Chelsea to win the race, Arsenal must not have a bid accepted by Shakhtar. That is because the attacker would choose to join Arsenal if he was given the choice.

But the way things are going, it looks like Mudryk will be unable to join his first-choice team as Chelsea are moving into pole position to reach a transfer agreement.

Ben Jacobs of CBS Sports provided his own update on the Mudryk talks on Thursday afternoon. He states that Arsenal’s latest bid was under €70m (£62m) and the highest they will go is €75m (£66.3m).

Arsenal sporting director Edu is trying to convince his Shakhtar counterparts this is enough by pointing to Everton’s bid for Mudryk in the summer. That came in at just £26.5m, which was nearly enough to get Shakhtar to sell at that point.

Jacobs believes Arsenal are wary of being drawn into a bidding war for Mudryk. This suggests Chelsea’s colossal new offer may result in them winning the race for the player.

Arsenal do have alternatives, just in case Mudryk goes to Stamford Bridge. They are reportedly looking at a Serie A star whose contract discussions are not going well.