A preference for Arsenal but…
Before Chelsea won the bet with an impossible to refuse offer for Shakhtar Donetsk (70 million euros, plus 30 million guaranteed bonuses except disaster), Mykhaylo Mudryk had long believed that he would play in London, but further north of the British capital, near the Emirates Stadium.
The choice of the heart for the 22-year-old player, who has never hidden his admiration for the Gunners and a certain… Robert Pirès.
Moreover, a funny detail, he made his debut in the Ukrainian Premier League with… Arsenal kyiv, where he was loaned for a season in 2018-2019.
But it was also about the choice of reason, as he explained to CBS Sports last November: “
Arsenal are a very dynamic team, not only in the way they control possession of the ball, but also in the way they attack and score.
And from a purely theoretical point of view, between being a substitute player at Real Madrid or a starter at Arsenal, my choice would probably be Arsenal.
“Yes but here it is, the Blues, in difficulty in the league, decided to break the piggy bank by upgrading the offer of 70 million from the Gunners, making their coach, Mikel Arteta, say: “
I am very proud to have my current group. .
Obviously, I would always like to be able to improve it but we have to be disciplined financially
”.
25 million euros will go to the Ukrainian war effort
Shakhtar Donetsk President Rinat Akhmetov finally prevailed.
While at the start his wish to see Mykhaylo Mudryk leave for 100 million euros seemed more like an announcement effect to hope to raise the stakes than a realistic amount, he knew how to play on the London rivalry to raise the auction.
A real breath of fresh air financially for his club, but not only.
Indeed, Akhmetov claimed that part of this record sum would be donated to the Ukrainian war effort.
25 million euros could thus make it possible to provide medical equipment to the Ukrainian army, as well as psychological support, financial aid to soldiers engaged in the defense of Mariupol and their families,
indemnities also for the families of soldiers who died in combat.
"
Their acts of bravery are unprecedented in modern history,
” Akhmetov said, while saying a friendly match between Shakhtar and Chelsea would take place at the Donbass Arena in Donetsk on a date yet to be determined.
The “Ukrainian Neymar”
"
Mudryk is a fantastic player, I think he can win the Ballon d'Or one day.
Obviously, in saying this, Roberto De Zerbi is not very objective since it was he who launched the Ukrainian nugget into the deep end and allowed him to progress at great speed. To the point of being decked out with the nickname of "
Ukrainian Neymar
" because of a style of play approaching that of the Brazilian.
Left winger but right-handed, Mykhaylo Mudryk is very strong on both feet, with a remarkable quality of dribbling, which has already made the happiness of multiple "
best of
" videos on the web.
However, it is to another Brazilian that Darijo Srna, the sporting director of Shakhtar and former Croatian international compares him:
Mudryk is our Vinicius Junior.
There are few players with such qualities, and he has improved enormously in recent months.
” Which resulted in particular in three goals and two assists in the last group stage of the Champions League, allowing him to have been decisive every 75 minutes against opponents such as Real Madrid or Leipzig .
Monaco has a bad memory, Nice tried it
Mykhaylo Mudryk played his first Champions League match on August 25, 2021 against… Monaco in the play-offs.
At the time, he came on in the 82nd minute and was quick to prove decisive in extra time, as he was responsible for the own goal scored by the Monegasque defender Aguilar in the second half. 114th minute, synonymous with elimination for the Principality club.
And a year later, during the summer transfer window, another Riviera club was interested in him: OGC Nice.
The leaders of the Aiglons had sounded out their counterparts from Shakhtar but very quickly, they had abandoned this idea due to already very strong competition (Everton already offered 30 million euros for the Ukrainian international to the 8 selections).
Almost as fast as Mbappé
If Mykhaylo Mudryk is distinguished first of all by his technical qualities, these should not overshadow a remarkable burst of speed.
At the end of the Champions League group stage this season, UEFA announced the ranking of the players who reached the fastest burst of speed, and the Shakhtar player was the lucky winner with a sprint against Celtic Glasgow measured at 36.6km/h.
Or very close to the 38km / h of a Kylian Mbappé, to whom he therefore has nothing to envy in terms of pure speed.
On the other hand, he still lacks the realism of the Paris SG striker because Mudryk, so far, has scored little in his career: 10 goals in all and for all in the Ukrainian league (including 7 during the current season ) and still none in selection.