By Frank Dalleres
Chelsea have handed what is believed to be the longest contract in Premier League history to new £89m signing Mykhailo Mudryk.
The Blues outbid Arsenal to beat their London rivals to the Ukraine winger, who has agreed an eight-and-a-half year contract that runs until 2031.
Mudryk was at Stamford Bridge on Sunday to watch his new club play Crystal Palace in the Premier League.
“I’m so happy to sign for Chelsea,” he said. “This is a huge club, in a fantastic league and it is a very attractive project for me at this stage of my career.
“I’m excited to meet my new team-mates and I’m looking forward to working and learning under Graham Potter and his staff.”
Mudryk joins from Shakhtar Donetsk, where the 22-year-old caught the eye of Europe’s top clubs in this season’s Champions League.
Chelsea are understood to have won the race for the player by meeting Shakhtar’s demand of a deal worth €100m (£89m) in total.
They are expected to pay a guaranteed €70m (£62m), plus up to €30m (£27m) more in performance-related bonuses.
The previous longest contract in the Premier League was the eight-year deal signed by former Arsenal midfielder Cesc Fabregas in 2006.
Mudryk’s capture continues Chelsea’s aggressive transfer strategy since Todd Boehly’s consortium bought the club last summer.
In a little over seven months they have spent around £375m on 13 players, of which 11 have been permanent signings.
Mudryk is their fifth recruit this month alone, following Joao Felix, Benoit Badiashile, Andrey Santos and David Datro Fofana.
Signing players to long contracts allows clubs to spread the cost of their signing, which can help them to meet financial fair play rules.
A condition of Boehly’s £2.5bn purchase of Chelsea from Roman Abramovich was a pledge to invest a further £1.75bn into the club.
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