Arsenal ‘surprised’ how good Mudryk reject is

Carlo Garganese

• Updated: 5 May 2024 08:07 CDT
• 3 min read

Joe Cole says that Arsenal are surprised at just how good Leandro Trossard has been for the club.

Trossard found the back of the net again for Arsenal on Saturday in the 3-0 win over Bournemouth, taking his tally to an impressive 16 goals for the season.

This is despite the fact that he only joined Arsenal in January 2023 from Brighton because the Gunners failed to sign their primary target Mykhailo Mudryk, who has flopped at Chelsea.

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What did Joe Cole say?

“I think Mudryk is a project. There is a player in Mudryk, and he is improving and he is getting better, and Chelsea will hopefully get the best of him,” Cole said on TNT Sports.

“I thought they pivoted and thought, ‘Look, we haven’t got the player we want that we could ease into the squad, but we will go with Trossard, who can come in and do a job off the bench’.

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“And I don’t think even the people here (at Arsenal), I think they are surprised at how well he has done. I watched him play, he is a top player, but I didn’t see him have the effect he has done. So, fair play to him. He has been brilliant.”

Mudryk joined Chelsea for €100 million in January 2023 from Shakhtar Donetsk after the Blues hijacked Arsenal's deal for the winger.

However, Mudryk has flopped badly at Stamford Bridge and was even linked with a January transfer away from Chelsea.

Since joining Chelsea, Mudryk has managed just six goals and four assists in 55 appearances amidst a string of poor performances.

Pochettino has publicly stated on numerous occasions that the player must improve in a number of areas, and his future past this summer is in question.

Trossard, meanwhile, has established himself as a first-team regular at Arsenal in the closing weeks of the season, pushing Gabriel Martinelli to the bench.