Graham Potter hailed the signing of Mykhaylo Mudryk from Shakhtar Donetsk for a potential £89m but warned Chelsea not to upset the balance of their squad by bringing in too many players this month.
Potter was relieved after Chelsea ended their losing run by beating Crystal Palace on Sunday and he was excited after beating Arsenal to Mudryk, who has joined on an eight-and-a-half-year contract. The Ukraine winger had been expected to join Arsenal, only for Mikel Arteta’s side to be stunned by a late swoop from their London rivals over the weekend.
In a statement, Shakhtar confirmed that Chelsea have agreed to pay €70m, plus €30m in add-ons – the biggest transfer fee of the winter window so far. Mudryk will wear the No 15 shirt at Stamford Bridge.
The signing of Mudryk is unlikely to mark the end of Chelsea’s spending this month. They have also signed João Felix on loan and bought Benoît Badiashile, Davide Datro Fofana and Andrey Santos. There could be further additions in attack, central midfield is a priority and cover is needed at right-back. Chelsea are without 10 players through injury and suspension but Potter does not want the squad to become bloated.
“We want to play better,” the head coach said. “We want more wins. You need a squad that’s balanced. You need a squad that’s got the right amount of competition.
“I think we’ve got to be not necessarily careful, but I think you’ve just got to understand that we’ve got about 10 players unavailable. Obviously you can’t just sign players to replace those because in the end, you have a squad of 30. You have to do the right thing and the window is complicated in January.”
Potter believes Mudryk, a quick and direct attacker, will make Chelsea better. “He’s a young player with a big future,” he said. “He’s exciting one v one, direct, attacks the backline, can go in in wide areas but also affects the goal. I think our supporters will really like him.”
Mudryk was at Stamford Bridge to watch and Potter was asked about the length of the 22-year-old’s deal. “If I’m here for the remainder of his contract, we’ll all be happy,” he said.
Potter, who replaced Thomas Tuchel in September, is overseeing a period of heavy transition. “You have to stabilise things and work to support the club as best as you can,” he said. “If you’re in a position where over too small a period too many people are making recruitment decisions, it’s not really the recipe for success. We have to make good decisions. And we have to align our resources. They have to be used in the right way.”
Havertz’s goal brought Chelsea, who are 10th, only their second win in 10 games. “I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t relieved because it’s nice to get a win,” Potter said. “The players have suffered and it’s not nice. It’s important for them to enjoy the win today.”
Patrick Vieira said the visitors deserved more. The Palace manager was unhappy with the refereeing and believes his team are not being shown enough respect by officials.
“There was a lot of frustration from my side because I think we get too many decisions against us,” Vieira said. “We don’t want any kind of favours. We just want to be treated like everybody else.”
