Mudryk mocked as he fails to match Man Utd 'starboy' on Chelsea debut

Robin Bairner

• Updated: 4 Feb 2023 09:45 GMT
• 3 min read

Manchester United fans took delight in Mykhailo Mudryk’s Chelsea debut, which was certainly not one to remember against Fulham.

Mudryk, along with Enzo Fernandez, was one of two huge pieces of transfer business that the Stamford Bridge side undertook in January, during which they spent €330 million on new recruits.

Chelsea’s January transfer window was unprecedented in terms of both the volume of the signings they made and the money they spent, but a scoreless draw against Fulham at home on Friday suggests that they will struggle to challenge for the Champions League spots this season.

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That is good news for Man Utd, who are nine points clear of the Blues in fourth, with a game in hand at home against Crystal Palace to come this weekend.

And United fans were not slow to compare Mudryk’s performance against Fulham to that of Alejandro Garnacho, who came off the bench and was decisive for the Red Devils when they visited Craven Cottage immediately before the break for the World Cup.

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Mudryk's miserable Chelsea debut

Mudryk was hauled off at the break at Stamford Bridge, having achieved nothing against Fulham. He failed to register a shot, foul won, take on completed, chance created or even a pass into the opposition box as he was kept mute by the well-organised visitors.

After the match, Graham Potter defended by stating: “He is still in a phase where we need to build up his minutes, so we need to be careful with that. The two weeks has helped us.”

By contrast, Garnacho played only 21 minutes against Fulham in November and yet still managed to be decisive. With 60 seconds of injury time left in that fixture and the score balanced at 1-1, the winger exchanged passes with Christian Eriksen before rolling a right-footed shot into the net from a testing angle.

Man Utd fans were quick to take to social media after Mudryk’s debut to remind Chelsea fans of that.

Should Erik ten Hag lead the Red Devils to three points against Palace, Man Utd will be looking very comfortable indeed in fourth.