Chelsea have been accused of 'financially bullying' Arsenal in the race for Mykhaylo Mudryk.
The Blues were the biggest Premier League spenders over the summer in Todd Boehly's first window as owner, spending more than £200m on players including Wesley Fofana and Raheem Sterling. The appointment of Graham Potter as manager has seen them dip into the transfer market again, with the Gunners suffering as a consequence.
Joao Felix was linked with a north London switch before Chelsea stepped in to sign the Portugal star on loan. Mudryk appears to be next, with the Blues outbidding Mikel Arteta's team for the Ukraine international, and former England striker Gabby Agbonlahor has pulled no punches in his description of the hijacking.
“With this transfer, Chelsea have bullied Arsenal, they have financially bullied them,” Agbonlahor told talkSPORT. "They went over and spoke to his agent and probably told him, ‘We’ll give you [the agent] more, we’ll give the player more in wages and we’ll give the club more money up front’.
“Arsenal were maybe going to give him £100,000 or £150,000-a-week, and it wouldn’t surprise me if Chelsea offered him £250,000 or £300,000-a-week! Chelsea can just turn up with an open wallet and say, ‘What do you want?’.
“I think it’s a good signing, but it’s going to hurt Arsenal and it’s going to hurt Arsenal fans,” he added. Reports suggest Chelsea could end up paying as much as £87m including add-ons, having seemingly offered more up-front than the Gunners, and Arteta may now need to look to other targets.
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Arsenal reportedly saw two bids for Mudryk knocked back by Shakhtar before returning to the table. However, despite the Gunners' renewed interest, the 22-year-old now looks destined for west London with Chelsea paying an initial £62m.
Mudryk's move comes despite Chelsea losing further ground on their Premier League rivals on Thursday night, and they sit 19 points adrift of league leaders Arsenal after playing 18 games to their rivals' 17. The Blues were beaten 2-1 by Fulham during the week, with new loan signing Joao Felix sent off on his debut, and the Portugal international will miss the next three games as a result.
“There are always questions if you don’t get results," under-fire manager Potter said after the Fulham game. "I was under pressure after two defeats before the break, that’s from the media, but in terms of the board, I’ve had full support.
“But I’m not naive and if anyone I work for thinks the problem lies with me, they have every right to say, ‘Thank you very much but it’s not working’, and I accept that. But, speaking to them when things have been going badly, they have been very reassuring.”
