Chelsea flop handed 'one more chance'

Cameron Smith

• 23 Sept 2024 09:00 BST
• 3 min read

Mykhailo Mudryk will reportedly be given “one more chance” to prove he is good enough to play for Chelsea.

The 23-year-old moved to Stamford Bridge from Shakhtar Donetsk in January 2023 after the Blues hijacked Arsenal’s deal to sign him.

However, Mudryk has underwhelmed since arriving in west London and he was reportedly close to being sold during the most recent summer transfer window.

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The arrivals of Joao Felix, Jadon Sancho and Pedro Neto have pushed Mudryk down the pecking order at Chelsea and he has mustered just 62 minutes of Premier League action so far this campaign.

Sancho now appears to be Enzo Maresca’s preferred left winger, with the Ukraine international set to be limited to minutes in cup competitions as a result.

According to GiveMeSport, Mudryk is in line to start against Barrow in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday evening, with the Ukrainian handed “one more chance” to prove he can make the grade at Chelsea.

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Marseille are among the teams interested in signing Mudryk and if he is unable to perform against League Two opposition in midweek, he reportedly faces the prospect of being offloaded during the January transfer window.

The 22-year-old winger has been an unused substitute in three of Chelsea’s five leagues fixtures so far this season, while he only has seven goals and five assists in 62 games for the Stamford Bridge outfit.

Enzo Maresca on Mykhailo Mudryk

Mudryk’s only league start of the campaign came during the 6-2 demolition of Wolves, but the Ukrainian was hooked at half-time after a quiet first-half performance.

After the match, Maresca was asked why he decided to substitute the ex-Shakhtar winger so early. “Because I was not happy,” the Italian replied.

“I think in some moments we can manage some situations better. He was working very hard off the ball and that was very good. But in terms of on the ball, I expect a bit more quality from Misha.

“For me, he had some good moments the other day and some good moments today and the reason why was just because we needed to change and give Pedro [Neto] some minutes.”