Chelsea goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga has revealed he and his teammates were not aware a deal for Mykhailo Mudryk had been completed until half-time of their Premier League victory over Crystal Palace.

It was on Saturday morning that Chelsea co-owner Behdad Eghbali and director of global talent and transfers Paul Winstanley flew to Turkey to secure the 22-year-old’s signing from Shakhtar Donetsk. An initial fee of £62million was agreed between the clubs with a further £27million to be paid in add-ons.

Mudryk arrived in the United Kingdom late on Saturday and underwent his medical the following morning. He arrived at Stamford Bridge ahead of Chelsea’s game against Palace and was pictured in the directors’ box. However, it wasn’t until midway through the opening period the match that the Ukraine international’s move was confirmed.

“It was a different way to announce it,” joked Kepa after Chelsea’s 1-0 victory over the Eagles.

“It felt a bit like ‘is it happening or isn’t it happening?’ But then we saw him arrive at half time because we were in the changing room. We are happy to have him at the club and maybe we can meet each other tomorrow.

“He is a big player who comes here to help and all the best to him. We hope they can all help our season everyone wants that. We have the Champions League coming in February. It is in our head that we are not in the cups so it is about Premier League and Champions League. We have to go step-by-step, improve and make our team stronger to fight for everything.”