Chelsea, Arsenal face another Shakhtar transfer battle for ‘supreme talent’ after Mudryk drama
Chelsea ‘are at the front of the queue’ for Shakhtar Donetsk midfielder Georgiy Sudakov, who is also attracting interest from Arsenal, according to a report.
21-year-old Sudakov is very highly rated in Donetsk and is expected to be the next player to leave the club for a huge fee.
Chelsea vs Arsenal: Mudryk v2
Mykhaylo Mudryk was the last big-money sale made by Shakhtar, making the move to Chelsea for £62million in January 2023 after Arsenal had a couple of bids rejected.
The Mudryk drama was probably the best transfer saga in 2023 after he was pretty much begging for a move to the Emirates.
However, it was the Blues who met Shakhtar’s asking price, and they could be set to do so again, with themselves and Mikel Arteta’s side interested in Sudakov.
According to our friends over at TEAMtalk, Chelsea are leading the race for the 21-year-old’s signature despite interest from ‘numerous heavyweight rivals’.
It is claimed that Shakhtar have fielded ‘multiple enquiries’ and Chelsea are one of the clubs to ‘make further contact on Wednesday’.
Manchester United and Manchester City are also believed to be interested in signing the Ukrainian international, who Shakhtar ‘want €100million (£85.5million) for’.
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While the interest from the Manchester clubs is there, the report states that neither have made ‘as much contact or effort’ as Chelsea and Arsenal.
Juventus and Napoli are also believed to be keen, with the former lodging a €40m bid, which Sudakov has personally revealed, saying: “[Shakhtar director] Sergei Anatolyevich Palkin informed me about offers from Juventus and Napoli. Shakhtar rejected Napolis €40m bid.”
Italian clubs have no desire to be involved in a bidding war with Premier League clubs with their financial might and given the asking price, it looks certain that Sudakov will end up in England.
Chelsea – who ‘have been pushing in the last week’ – believe the midfielder ‘ticks all of the boxes’ for their project but signing him could see them fall further down in the race to sign Napoli striker Victor Osimhen, it is added.
Chelsea need a striker
Mauricio Pochettino’s side will surely prioritise the signing of a new No. 9 at the end of the season and many people believe Osimhen is the best option out there.
Unfortunately for the Blues, the Nigerian striker is expected to cost £100m due to a release clause in his Napoli contract.
There are plenty of other options out there, mind…
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