The dust has settled on the Mykhailo Mudryk soap opera but many fans are still left wondering how, in a matter of a few hours, Chelsea managed to enter the race for the Ukrainian and steal him away from rivals Arsenal.
For months, the Ukrainian sensation had been linked with a move to the Emirates Stadium. In fact, the player even publicly flirted with the idea of joining the Gunners both in interviews and through several social media posts.
The Premier League leaders, who are flying high in the title race but in desperate need of attacking reinforcement if they are to sustain this till the end of the season, even made three bids for the winger.
The first two were rejected but the third was close to Shakhtar's asking price, with Arsenal offering €70M ($76M) upfront plus an additional €30M in add-ons. At this point, no other club was in for the 22-year-old and while there were still doubts regarding the structure of the deal, the Premier League side all but met his employers' €100M demand, and thus an agreement was expected to be reached.
However, on Saturday, Fabrizio Romano broke a story that would eventually change the course of this deal. Chelsea, who had been linked with interest previously, traveled to Poland to hijack this deal and bring the Ukrainian to Stamford Bridge following injuries to Christian Pulisic and Raheem Sterling.
And within hours, the Blues reached an agreement with Shakhtar. Soon afterward, the player was convinced to join Potter's side and got on a plane for London that same day. Come Sunday, the deal was officially announced and the highly-rated attacker was unveiled during the team's 1-0 win at home to Crystal Palace.
In an exclusive interview with the Athletic, Shakhtar chief executive Sergei Palkin revealed the details behind this drama and why Boehly and Co. beat the Gunners to the deal. While everyone assumed that Chelsea simply blew Arsenal out of the water with their offer, the Miners official states that the offers from both teams were roughly similar.
However, the structure of Chelsea's deal – the add-ons and how achievable they were – was far superior. Palkin also revealed that Shakhtar rejected Arsenal's third offer before the Blues began their hijack, an unfolding which was not previously disclosed.
"When they (Arsenal) proposed the final offer of €70million plus €30million in add-ons, we sat down and started to talk internally about how it will be fulfilled in terms of the payments, the fixed part, and the bonus issues," Sergei said.
"We realized we will not close this deal (with Arsenal). I said to Edu (the Gunners sporting director) that I did my best but it was not possible."
He later added: "These bonuses should be somehow achievable and realistic, let's say. Therefore, in this case, Chelsea was much more serious and fair in some points.
"When we met Chelsea, we stayed all together. For you to understand the context, it was for nine or 10 hours. They invited the player and explained to us the whole project. We realized that, yes, if you look right now, Chelsea have some kinds of problems but it is normal because they have a transition period from one owner to another.
"It is understandable. They would like to change a lot. So when they explain to you the whole story and you look for the next two, three, four, five years, then you see they have a serious project.
"I believe they will build one of the best clubs in the world because I am telling you, they are very serious in all directions: sports science, the stadium side, the commercial side, on all things. For us, they looked very ambitious."
Additionally, Palkin revealed that while the Gunners went to Mudryk without first seeking permission from his current employers, Boehly's side reached out to the club before contacting the winger.
As mentioned earlier, Potter is dealing with several injury issues. However, the knocks to Sterling and Pulisic are key as that will grant Mudryk an immediate spot in the starting eleven, meaning he could make his debut this weekend against Liverpool in the Premier League.
Arsenal, meanwhile, remain on the hunt for a winger. Barcelona ace Raphinha, who was on Edu's radar in the summer prior to his Camp Nou switch, is wanted but neither the player nor his Catalan club are open to this deal.
Bayer Leverkusen's Moussa Diaby and out-of-favor Brighton ace Leandro Trossard are also being looked at. However, with the Gunners offering around €100M for an inexperienced winger from Ukraine, the English top-flight leaders might struggle to find a reasonable deal as clubs across the globe will use that as a yardstick, thus leaving Arteta's side in a conundrum.
