Mykhaylo Mudryk moved to Chelsea in January 2023 with high hopes. He was impressive in the Turkish League before the London club came knocking. Mudryk had garnered interest from Arsenal as well. Mudryk had scored 12 goals and 13 assists in his time at Shakhtar Donetsk. However, despite his form at Shakhtar, he did not live up to his expectations at Chelsea. He failed to score his first goal for a long time and was getting trolled for it. Mudryk was an expensive signing, and Chelsea were not able to get the best out of him.
The Ukrainian has scored just 7 goals and racked up 4 assists to his name in 57 appearances for the club. However, recently, his talent has come to shine through. He passes the eye test every time he plays and has a certain kind of flair about the way he plays. Although Mudryk came to Chelsea during a transition period, he has underperformed for the kind of potential he showed at Shakhtar.
Pochettino backs the Ukranian
He is one of the few failed signings that Chelsea has made since Todd Boehly took over as owner of the club. The $89 million price tag certainly will put a lot of pressure on Mudryk to perform for his club. Although Mudryk has failed to impress the pundits, Maricio Pochettino believes him. Pochettino keeps giving Mykhaylo chances to prove himself to the fans and pundits alike. He believes that the young Ukrainian can bring something to the table that the other wingers at the club cannot. Pochettino will keep backing Mudryk, as he believes he can get him to score goals and assists. Cole Palmer could link up with Mudryk next season and make a great partnership as well. Although Mudryk has struggled at Chelsea, Gael Clichy believes he will make a comeback next season and shine for the club. He believes Mudryk must be hurting for what his homeland is going through, and that might have had an affect on his performances.
Gael Clichy on Mudryk
Gael Clichy spoke to Ladbrokes in an interview.
He said,
“Mykhaylo Mudryk was about to sign for Arsenal for big money last year, and everyone was thinking he was going to come in and change the team completely, with his pace, and how good he looked with the ball at his feet, and everything like that. Then, you look at the year or so he’s had with Chelsea, and some people might think, ‘Thank God we didn’t buy him’.
“Does it mean the player is not performing? Maybe he’ll turn up next season. We have to think about other things off the pitch, such as what’s happening with him at home, coming from a place where things are really tough right now. Sometimes, we forget about this kind of thing and just focus on what the guy is doing on the pitch.”
Clichy added: “I wouldn’t be surprised if Mudryk comes out next season and becomes the best winger in the Premier League, because he’s absolutely got all of the attributes that you want in a winger.”
He said, “As a player, he knows he needs to keep improving. He’s still young, and he is going to improve because he has the quality. He’s a player who, in his evolution, is doing really well, and we are so happy. For sure, with time, he’s going to be a very important player. He’s already an important player, but he’s going to improve a lot because the potential is massive.”
Mudryk is young and dynamic. If the former Premier League winner Clichy believes in him, there is definitely something that we fail to see. It will be interesting to see how his career develops.
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