Matt Law
Mykhailo Mudryk has not been spotted at Chelsea for a couple of weeks Credit: Getty Images/Darren Walsh
Mykhailo Mudryk arrives for a match with his hood up
Mykhailo Mudryk has not been spotted at Chelsea for a couple of weeks Credit: Getty Images/Darren Walsh
As recently as Monday night, Chelsea players had been asking friends and associates “do you know what’s happened to Misha?” after Mykhailo Mudryk had not been spotted around the club’s Cobham training ground for a couple of weeks.
Head coach Enzo Maresca had publicly put his absence down to “illness”, while players were left in the dark over the disappearance of their team-mate until Tuesday morning when news broke that Mudryk had provided a positive doping sample.
While provisionally suspended, Mudryk cannot play for Chelsea or train at the club’s Cobham complex while he waits for the ‘B’ sample analysis, which explains his team-mates’ confusion – particularly as sources insist his initial absence was at least partly down to an illness.
Mudryk and Chelsea are sweating on the results of the ‘B’ sample to determine whether he is facing a ban, which, according to Football Association rules, could be as long as four years.
Nobody should assume his guilt at this stage. Mudryk’s provisional suspension for providing a positive ‘A’ sample, which is alleged to have found traces of the banned performance-enhancing substance meldonium, is the latest chapter in what has largely been an unhappy two years for the 23-year-old.
Mykhailo Mudryk
Despite his huge reputation, Mudryk has been a fringe player for Chelsea this season, mostly playing in the Europa Conference League Credit: Getty Images/Daniel Kopatsch
Last January Chelsea had the opportunity to cut their losses and run when one of Europe’s biggest clubs showed an interest in taking Mudryk on loan with a view to a permanent move.
There were other clubs interested too, but Chelsea were adamant that Mudryk was a talent so great that he could win the Ballon d’Or in two years. That may seem ludicrous now, but Roberto De Zerbi, Mudryk’s former coach at Shakhtar Donetsk, had already tipped the Ukrainian to become the world’s best player.
Mikel Arteta was also desperate to sign Mudryk for Arsenal in January 2023, before being gazumped by Chelsea, and Brentford scouts rate him among the best players they have ever tracked.
Doubts if he will ever fulfil his promise
That may be puzzling to Chelsea supporters who have only seen the briefest flashes of his talent, but it also explains why the club have shown such faith in their investment.
There must now be doubts over whether Mudryk will ever fulfil his huge promise and some of the coaches and sporting directors who were willing to take a chance on him back in January already recognise that successfully signing the winger could have cost them their jobs.
It was Chelsea co-owner Behdad Eghbali, together with sporting director Paul Winstanley, who flew on a private jet to Turkey to seal the signing of Mudryk under the noses of Arsenal almost two years ago.
The initial £62 million fee, which could rise to over £80 million with bonuses, raised eyebrows inside and outside Chelsea, and Mudryk’s name was bizarrely added to the club’s official Instagram bio before he had formally signed.
Chelsea’s X account further teased fans by responding to a Shakhtar statement that the club had entered into negotiations with the London side with an eyes emoji. It was claimed that family and friends of Mudryk were allowed into the dressing room at Anfield ahead of his debut against Liverpool, which surprised some of his former team-mates.
Chelsea unveil new signing Mykhailo Mudryk at Stamford Bridge on January 15, 2023
Chelsea’s signing of Mudryk in January 2023 was seen as a coup Credit: Getty Images/Joupin Ghamsari
Creating a God complex around Mudryk, a player who had moved from a country at war and an inferior league, was childish and naive. Chelsea’s approach to big-money transfers since then would suggest they have learnt valuable lessons.
The club are offering Mudryk support and have provided him with a programme to remain fit while he is not allowed to play and train at Cobham.
He is described as being a shy and introverted character, who socialises within a tight circle, rather than with many of his team-mates, and is not thought to drink alcohol.
There have remained signs of immaturity in Mudryk’s character, as well as his game, which was highlighted when he challenged a critic on social media to a one-on-one game last season.
Former head coach Mauricio Pochettino tried to boost the player’s confidence by undertaking the crossbar challenge against him, although Mudryk had attempted to pull out of the daily contest following a run of defeats.
Lack of confidence
In September last year, Pochettino said: “The problem with confidence is we cannot buy it in the supermarket. It is about time. You know how it works in the brain. It is about little by little creating situations that can provide the trust and the confidence and the belief.
“One example: today, with Mudryk, I like to play hitting the crossbar from outside the box. He said to me today: ‘No, I’m not going to play any more with you because always you win.’ I said: ‘Yes, because I have the belief – the balance between belief and quality I know very well because I am 50 years old and you are still young.’ Today was the first time that we draw.
“Now you start to believe in yourself, you start to believe in your quality because, if not, it is not a good balance in between belief and quality. It is difficult. You work on the psychology of the player and provide the players with the confidence to touch the ball and score. It’s a small example.”
Enzo Maresca speaks to Mykhailo Mudryk following the home Premier League match against Aston Villa on December 1, 2024
Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca speaks to Mudryk after the Aston Villa match on December 1 when he was an unused substitute – he has not been in the match-day squad since Credit: Getty Images/Ryan Pierse
Mudryk has scored three goals this season, all in the Europa Conference League, the competition in which Maresca had been giving him most of his game time.
It is already known that Mudryk will not be available for Thursday night’s Europa Conference League game against Shamrock Rovers, but just how long he will be out for is now in the hands of drugs testers, the FA and lawyers.
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