Chelsea frustration as Mudryk replacement lights up Champions League

Robin Bairner

• Updated: 17 Apr 2024 10:29 BST
• 4 min read

Chelsea would have viewed PSG’s comeback win over Barcelona in the Champions League on Tuesday in a bittersweet manner.

On one hand, Luis Enrique showed that it is possible to progress deep in Europe’s big competition with a young team, but on the other, PSG were inspired to do so by a player that Chelsea so desperately wanted to sign last summer.

Bradley Barcola, 21, was the star of the show for the Ligue 1 champions as they turned the tie around from two goals down on aggregate – quite an achievement for a team with an average age of just 25 and not a single player in their 30s taking to the field.

READ MORE: Premier League goals since March: Cole Palmer 10-9 Liverpool

After transforming the first leg when he came off the bench, the 21-year-old unsurprisingly started in Catalunya and excelled.

L’Equipe gave his performance 8/10, which was the same score FootballCritic gave him. He provoked a red card on Ronald Araujo with a thrilling burst, set up Ousmane Dembele’s vital equaliser and repeatedly tested Barca right-back Jules Kounde.

“Who could have believed at the time of his signing that this 21-year-old kid would be a centerpiece PSG in the quarter-finals of the Champions League?” the French paper asks.

“He created all the best moves in the first half. A cross at the start of the first chance after 28 minutes, he caused the mistake bringing the red of Araujo (29 mins) and he is the decisive passer for Dembele (40 mins). All this, under the eyes of Guy Stephan.”

READ MORE: Mudryk tipped for Ballon d'Or glory by Chelsea, Arsenal & Liverpool target

Chelsea’s Barcola heartache

Barcola, though, was close to joining Chelsea in the summer from Lyon.

OL owner John Textor was even pushing for the move to the Blues to go through, yet the player expressed a preference to move to PSG and ultimately moved to Parc des Princes for €45 million plus a 10% sell-on clause.

Although the young winger has a tendency to blow a little hot-and-cold, it’s already starting to look excellent value as he shapes up as the replacement for the departing Kylian Mbappe.

Chelsea must be wondering what might have been. Their offering on the left wing currently comprised Raheem Sterling, Mykhailo Mudryk and Diego Moreira.

Mudryk is the preferred option at present, yet the 23-year-old cost the Blues substantially more than PSG shelled out on Barcola. With six goals and four assists across his Chelsea career to date, it’s a deal they probably wish they hadn’t done.

Despite this, the Ukraine international continues to be hyped beyond all credibility. Shakhtar Donetsk's Georgiy Sudakov continues to insist his former teammate can go on and win the Ballon d'Or. The player, meanwhile, has shown nothing to suggest he will even break into the top 30 one day.

While Mudryk is waiting on his landmark performance in the Premier League, Barcola already has one in the Champions League he will long remember.