Even Jose Mourinho is going in on Chelsea for spending £87 million on Mykhailo Mudryk

Former Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho appeared to criticise the club's decision to spend £87 million on Mykhailo Mudryk on Sunday.

The Blues unveiled Mudryk during their 1-0 win over Crystal Palace after sensationally hijacking Arsenal's move for the forward.

Mudryk publicly expressed his desire to join the Gunners, even sharing images of himself watching their games on Instagram over the Christmas period.

Shakhtar Donetsk were holding out for £87 million upfront, something the Premier League leaders were hesitant to pay. Chelsea opted to make a move and Mudryk put pen to paper on a seven-and-a-half-year contract.

The 22-year-old established himself as one of Shakhtar's star players this term, scoring 11 goals in 19 games.

Mudryk's rise through the ranks came very quickly as several players departed due to Ukraine's ongoing war with Russia. He didn't buckle under the pressure.

Chelsea are currently 10th in the Premier League, with victory over Palace being their first in the league all year.

Mudryk is Graham Potter's fifth signing of the January transfer window following the arrivals of David Datro Fofana, Andrey Santos, Benoit Badiashile and Joao Felix on loan.

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Mourinho even referenced Mudryk's transfer in the aftermath of Roma's 2-0 win over Fiorentina. 'The Special One' was asked about potential signings in January for his side, admitting any incomings were unlikely.

"I am not expecting anyone to arrive," Mourinho conceded per La Gazzetta dello Sport.

"The director (Tiago Pinto) was very honest and direct, he said things in an interview that a coach usually doesn’t like to hear. Coaches always want to hear we have lots of money, can buy option a, b, c, d, build an incredible team. That is the dream.

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"I worked at clubs with those sorts of practically limitless funds. There are more and more clubs nowadays who fit that profile, but it’s not our profile.

"We work, we give our all, we work with the characteristics we’ve got."

When asked what he'll do if there are injuries in his squad, Mourinho replied: "We need to find a solution, we can’t just buy Mudryk for €100 million (£87 million)!"

Roma are currently seventh in Serie A, level on points with Atalanta and Lazio and three points behind Inter Milan in fourth.

Topics: Mykhaylo Mudryk, Chelsea

Daniel Marland

Daniel is a social editor for SPORTbible after moving from the writing team. Nearly scored past Stormzy at Old Trafford once.

@DanMarland_