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Shakhtar Donetsk president Rinat Akhmetov has said that his club will donate 22 million pounds to the defense of Ukraine after completing the multi-million transfer of Mykhailo Mudryk to Chelsea.
The Blues signed the Ukrainian winger in a deal that has the potential to be worth up to 89 million pounds from Shakhtar, a record fee for a Ukrainian side.
Shakhtar Promise to Help Ukraine with Fee
The president of the club pledged 22 million pounds of that fee to help people in Ukraine following the invasion of the country by Russia in early 2022.
Akhmetov said the money from the club would be donated to a project named ‘Heart of Azovstal,’ which is an organisation aimed at “helping Mariupol defender and families of fallen soldiers.”
“I want to thank the entire civilized world for helping Ukraine,” said Akhmetov.
“Today we are able to talk about Ukrainian football thanks to the Ukrainian army, the Ukrainian people, and the tremendous support of the entire civilized world.”
Of Mudryk’s departure from his club, the club president said he had “mixed feelings” about the young attacking star leaving the side.
“I have never made it a secret that my dream is to win European trophies,” he said.
“This means that players like Mudryk should be invited to our club, to our Ukrainian championship, and we should win European trophies with such players,” he explained.
“Unfortunately, it is impossible now, as Ukraine is fighting the horrendous and unjust war waged against us by the Russian Federation,” Akhmetov said.
The president detailed how the funds from Mudry’s transfer donated help Ukraine would be used to help soldiers who required medical support due to the effects of the war. It will also be used to help the families of those who have lost their life in the ongoing conflict.
“Their acts of bravery are unparalleled in the modern history,” Akhmetov said.
He also added that Shakthar would play a friendly against Chelsea at Donbass arena in Ukraine in the future.
Mudryk joined Chelsea on an eight and a half year contract last weekend despite the fact that Arsenal had earlier looked like the forerunners to sign the 22-year old.
Potter ‘Delighted’ With Mudryk Signing
Manager Graham Potter said that he was happy to get Mudryk in the door, speaking to BBC after his side defeated Crystal Palace by a goal to nil on Sunday.
“We’re delighted he is here, I’ve no idea in terms of how it’s happened,” Potter said.
“I’ve been focusing on the game, as you can imagine, but he’s an exciting player – a player with real quality, a young player that will need time to adapt to the Premier League and to us, but we’re delighted to have him,” he added
Mudryk is Chelsea’s fifth signing of this January transfer window. He follows Joao Felix (loan signing), Benoit Badiashile, David Fofana and Andrey Santos in the door at Stamford Bridge.
The Ukrainian has netted seven goals and provided seven assists in the Ukrainian Premier League this season, and scored three goals in the Champions League.
Chelsea will be hoping that the Ukrainian international can help them climb the Premier League table from their current 10th position into the European places with half the season remaining.
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