2nd October 2023; Craven Cottage, Fulham, London, England; Premier League Football, Fulham versus Chelsea; Mudryk of Chelsea celebrates after he scores for 0-1 in the 18th minute. Photo: Action Plus
CHELSEA boss Xabi Alonso says it is “great news” that “special player” Mykhailo Mudryk has been cleared to return to football.
Mudryk, 25, hasn’t played a competitive game since November 2024 after being banned for four years following adverse findings for a banned substance.
But Mudryk has successfully appealed his ban to the Court of Arbitration for Sport and was set to link up with the squad on the next leg of their pre-season tour in Hong Kong.
Mudryk joined the Blues in an £89million deal from Shakhtar Donetsk in January 2023.
“We are happy for him, especially for him, because we are not able to understand what he has been through in this time and how he feels at the moment,” Alonso said in Sydney before the Blues departed for south-east Asia.
“We want that he feels part of the team, because he has not had this for a long time, and that he has the support from everyone – from the club, from the team-mates, from the staff.
“To be honest, we were not expecting to have this great news at this moment, so we are very happy learning that he will be here with us.
“I remember watching him in Shakhtar. The impact he had, how good he is, how good in one-on-one situations, how he could create a lot of situations on his own – he’s a special player.
“It’s massive, to go through what he has done. I [know] that frustration not to play what you love to do must be really, really hard. So now, for sure he is so excited, and we want to help him in that and that he feels part of something.
“Once there’s a change, things will start moving, and for him, it’s a massive change [from] training on his own every day. I think that had to be really, really hard because he wanted to play football, he wanted to be part of the team, and he was not allowed to do that for such a long time.
“So once this meeting has happened, now we can move on and after we will see if he makes progress quicker or slower. But we need to do the work.”