According to all the news Arsenal fans were hearing from the media, it was very clear that the Shakhtar star Mykhailo Mudryk was desperate to come to the Emirates, and it was only waiting for the two clubs to agree the transfer fee and it would be done in no time at all.
But once the transfer window was open it was obvious that there was no fixed agreement in place at all, and that Arsenal were still haggling about the terms of paying for the player and what and when the add-on bonuses would come into play.
It is now clear that Shakhtar would not have agreed the move to Arsenal in January even if Chelsea did not suddenly arrive on the scene a week ago. Speaking to The Athletic, the Shakhtar chief executive Sergei Palkin explained: ‘Overall, it was the same. Not approximately the same – it was the same figure.
‘The fixed part, variable part, bonuses. But if you look inside the fixed part and bonuses, it was completely different.
‘Different time (schedule) of the payments, different kinds of bonuses. Yes, we can talk about bonuses, but 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.’
He added: ‘Before Chelsea arrived in Turkey, we almost agreed with Arsenal that there was no chance to close (the deal).
‘When they 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.
‘We realised we will not close this deal (with Arsenal). I said to Edu that I did my best but it was not possible.’
When you think of the months of “tapping up” that Arsenal did with Mudryk, you would have thought they would have had enough time to find an agreement with Shakhtar that was acceptable to both sides by the time the transfer window opened, wouldn’t you.
It makes little sense to me, unless they were just hoping that Mudryk himself would do something crazy like go on strike unless he was allowed to join Arsenal.
That all became immaterial when Chelsea decided to get involved of course….
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