Chelsea career over? How Sancho's arrival impacts Mykhailo Mudryk

Updated: 3 Sep 2024 08:45 CDT
4 min read

Mykhailo Mudryk, Jadon Sancho, Chelsea — © IMAGO

When Chelsea hijacked Arsenal’s move for Mykhailo Mudryk in January 2023, there was a sense of optimism around the Ukrainian’s arrival.

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The speedy winger had starred during the Champions League group stages for Shakhtar Donetsk, scoring against both RB Leipzig and Celtic, and his Chelsea debut was extremely encouraging.

Mudryk was a bright spark off the bench against Liverpool and at the time it looked as though Chelsea had signed a young player with superstar potential.

However, while Roberto De Zerbi has labelled Mudryk a “future Ballon d’Or winner,” the Ukraine international simply hasn’t shown enough since joining Chelsea.

The Blues spent an initial €70 million on the 23-year-old, with add-ons potentially taking that fee up to €100m, but he hasn’t really delivered.

Seven goals in 62 appearances is a fairly underwhelming talent and Mudryk seemingly hasn’t improved since he moved to Stamford Bridge just over 18 months ago.

The addition of Jadon Sancho on Transfer Deadline Day has also raised questions about whether Mudryk has a clear future at Chelsea.

Mykhailo Mudryk’s future at Chelsea

Enzo Maresca has ruthlessly culled certain members of his first-team squad since arriving at Stamford Bridge, with Raheem Sterling, Romelu Lukaku and Trevoh Chalobah among the players to have been forced out this summer.

As a result, there’s no guarantee that Mudryk will see out the remaining seven years of his Chelsea contract if his form doesn’t improve.

Joao Felix, Pedro Neto and Sancho all joined Chelsea during the summer transfer window, and Mudryk is likely to have been pushed down the pecking order as a result.

The early indications suggest that Neto is favoured over Mudryk on the left flank as things stand, while Felix is yet to earn his first start after arriving from Atletico Madrid.

Meanwhile, Sancho is now another option available to Maresca, and with Noni Madueke and Cole Palmer starring on the right flank, the Man Utd loanee is expected to be deployed on the left.

As a result, Mudryk faces the prospect of playing very little football over the next few months.

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Of course, Chelsea are in the Europa Conference League and minutes will be available in that competition, but it’s certainly feasible to imagine that Neto will be first-choice in the Premier League and Sancho will be first-choice in Europe.

Therefore, Mudryk could struggle for game time. Given the fact he still looks incredibly underdeveloped as a player, that is far from ideal, and it could potentially lead to his Chelsea career ending in the not too distant future.

Read more about: Premier League, Chelsea, Man Utd, Jadon Sancho, Mykhaylo Mudryk