Mykhailo Mudryk can officially return to football, and his Chelsea team-mates have made their feelings perfectly clear
Levi Colwill was one of many Chelsea stars to send a message to Mykhailo Mudryk
Levi Colwill was one of many Chelsea stars to send a message to Mykhailo Mudryk (Image: (Photo by Visionhaus/Getty Images))
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Several Chelsea stars have issued messages of support to Mykhailo Mudryk after his doping ban was lifted. The 25-year-old has not played for the Blues since November 2024 after testing positive for meldonium and being handed a four-year suspension by the FA
Earlier this week, a statement was released by English football's governing body which stated that that disciplinary proceedings against the Ukrainian had been resolved. A provisional ban was placed on Mudryk a month on from his failed test.
During his time out, an appeal was lodged with the Court of Arbitration for Sport while confirmation of a hearing being set arrived in May of last year with 'written submissions' also exchanged. However, the situation has now been resolved with Mudryk posting on social media after the decision was made official.
His Chelsea team-mates Levi Colwill and Reece James led tributes by reposting his official statement to their Instagram stories. Romeo Lavia, Nicolas Jackson, Robert Sanchez, and Malo Gusto all followed their lead.
Meanwhile, former teammates including Ben Chilwell, Marc Cucurella, and Christopher Nkunku, alongside Cole Palmer, Enzo Fernandez, Moises Caicedo, Pedro Neto, and Wesley Fofana, were amongst the 1.5 million users to 'like' the Ukrainian's post.
Almost 60,000 users also flooded the comment section with messages of support. It is understood that Mudryk will now travel to Hong Kong to link up with the Chelsea squad ahead of Wednesday's friendly against Juventus.
Speaking to journalists at the Accor Stadium in Sydney, Australia, on Saturday, following a 2-1 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur, Alonso described the winger as a 'special' player, while tempering expectations regarding any immediate return to action.
"We are happy for him, especially for him," said the Blues manager. "Probably, we are not able to understand what he has been through in this time and how does he feel at the moment with the things that he had to cope with.
"We want that he feels part of a team, because he has been training on his own for a long time, and that we have the support from everyone, from the club, from the teammates, from the staff, and for sure it will take time. So once he is with us, we will see how things develop."
On Mudryk's future, Alonso said: "We need to see, it's too early to tell, to see how he is in terms of fitness, in terms of this game time that you need to be involved again, so it's still early to tell."
Chelsea boss Xabi Alonso
Xabi Alonso's latest Chelsea press conference was dominated by Mykhailo Mudryk
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The Chelsea boss added: "We have the Mudryk that [we had], it will take time, but once there is a change, things start moving, and for him it's a massive change. So he trained on his own every day, and I think it had to be really, really hard, because he wanted to play football.
"He wanted to be part of a team, and he was not allowed to do that for such a long time. So once this big change has happened, now things will move on, and afterwards we will see if it's quicker, if it's slower, but we need to be aware of that."
Reflecting on Mudryk's abilities as a footballer, Alonso said: "Yeah, I remember watching him in Shakhtar, the impact he had, how quick he is, how good in one-on-one situations, how he could create a lot of situations on his own, and he's a special player, but he will take time for sure."
"To be honest, we were not expecting to have this great news at this moment, so we are very happy. We feel that he will be working with us."
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