- 23 hours ago
Marcus Rashford and 4 possible January replacements for Mykhailo Mudryk at Chelsea
Robin Bairner
- 18 Dec 2024 01:03 CST
- 4 min read
Mykhailo Mudryk’s Chelsea career hangs in the balance. As Ukraine international faces a potential four-year ban for taking a Performance Enhancing Drug (PED), the Blues must be preparing for the worst.
News of Mudryk’s positive test broke on Tuesday as Chelsea confirmed that traces of a banned substance had been found in the sample provided by the 23-year-old.
Should a B sample show a similar result, the €70 million signing will find himself staring down the barrel of a lengthy ban from the game.
Mudryk, meanwhile, denies any wrongdoing.
STATS
Mykhaylo Mudryk
M, AM (L)
Chelsea
Mykhaylo Mudryk
M, AM (L)
Chelsea
Chelsea, who face Shamrock Rovers in the Conference League on Thursday, must be braced for that eventuality, which would almost certainly rule Mudryk out for a prolonged period of time.
Fortunately for the Blues, the January transfer window is just around the corner, with several obvious options in terms of who could replace the winger.
Who could Chelsea sign to replace Mudryk?
Marcus Rashford – Man Utd
Just as Mudryk’s career has changed on a dime, so too have Marcus Rashford’s fortunes.
Dropped by new head coach Ruben Amorim for the weekend’s victory over Manchester City, he apparently has no way back at Old Trafford after admitting in an interview that he requires a “new challenge”.
Few clubs are equipped to take Rashford and his lavish wages on, yet Chelsea offer one of the few possibilities out there for the England star.
Perhaps a loan move in the style of the deal that took Jadon Sancho from Man Utd to Stamford Bridge in the summer might be brokered?
Current ETV
Marcus Rashford
F (CL), M (L)
Man Utd
Marcus Rashford
F (CL), M (L)
Man Utd
ETV Range
€40.6M - €67.7M
Nico Williams – Athletic Club
Chelsea were one of several clubs following Nico Williams during the summer transfer window, when the Spain Euro 2024 hero elected to remain at Athletic rather than make a big move.
He still has a very tempting €58 million release clause in his contract, which makes him comparatively cheap, and with Barcelona’s interest in the winger apparently fading, this could open a door to the Premier League.
Replacing Mudryk with Nico Williams would be a huge upgrade for Chelsea – and it’s one that appears affordable, too. But can they lure him away from Bilbao? The way Enzo Maresca has his team playing certainly means they have a case to make.
Leroy Sane – Bayern Munich
On course to be a free agent in the summer, this could be Bayern’s last chance to sell Sane before he potentially departs for nothing in six months.
The Germany international winger has previous Premier League experience with Manchester City and has continued to build his reputation while at the Allianz Arena.
He’s had a bit-part role at Bayern this season, generally playing as a substitute under Vincent Kompany until recent weeks, and that should fuel transfer speculation around the 28-year-old.
His age means he’s not a typical BlueCo signing for Chelsea by any means, but the prospect of getting him on the cheap means that he must be considered a possibility.
Jamie Gittens – Borussia Dortmund
England U21 international Gittens has lit up the Bundesliga this season, becoming one of the breakout stars in Germany’s top-flight. This should mean the 20-year-old is on Chelsea’s radar as a potential Mudryk replacement.
Like Cole Palmer, he came through the Manchester City academy before starring elsewhere, and already this season he has scored nine goals and created four more in just 22 appearances for BVB.
STATS
Jamie Bynoe-Gittens
F, M (L)
Jamie Bynoe-Gittens
F, M (L)
Dortmund
Data analytics firm SciSport rates him as a similar player to Mudryk, though it already believes Gittens would be an upgrade on the Ukraine star, both in terms of current ability and certainly in terms of potential.
The downside? Dortmund are said to want €100m for their young protégé.
Read more about: Bundesliga, Premier League, Athletic, Bayern, Chelsea, Dortmund, Man Utd, Jamie Bynoe-Gittens, Leroy Sané, Marcus Rashford, Mykhaylo Mudryk, Nico Williams
