It was a year ago on Monday when Chelsea announced the signing of Mykhailo Mudryk from Shakhtar Donetsk on an 8½-year contract.
Chelsea paid £60.3m to sign Mudryk, with the potential for another £25.9m in add-ons.
The deal has continuously been mis-reported as being worth almost £90m, when in fact, nobody knows if the add-ons will ever be reached and just how realistic they are. So really, it should be reported as a £60m deal in my opinion.
Chelsea announced the signing of Mudryk during the Premier League game against Crystal Palace, and he was unveiled at half time.
I didn’t like this, and in hindsight this only increased the immense pressure that was already building up on his young shoulders. It was as if we were signing a world class proven superstar when in fact, he was just another top young talent who had/has a lot of potential.
The fact Mudryk was also arriving from Ukraine with all the issues going on there, was always going to make this a tough period for the winger. He had no idea if his family was safe every day, and it was a constant worry and concern for him as he made a massive move to the Premier League and away from what he knew.
So not only did he have all the above to contend with, he also had a new country and city to settle in, as well as a new league to get used to and adapted to, as well as a new manager and team mates.
All of this pressure was just mounting up on him, and the high profile transfer pursuit didn’t help things either. He’d spent weeks twerking for Arsenal when Chelsea went in and hijacked the deal from nowhere. I’m not saying that’s a bad thing, but it certainly heaped pressure on the shoulders of a young and unproven player.
Mudryk joined Chelsea having only ever made 49 appearances in senior football, 20 of those being out at loan clubs, and 29 of them being at Shakhtar.
The Premier League is a whole different ball game, and Mudryk soon found that out the hard way.
He made 17 appearances for Chelsea in his first season and didn’t register a single goal. In fact, in his 38 appearances in the Premier League so far, which ironically is just 11 short of his entire senior career appearances before he arrived, Mudryk has managed just 4 goals for Chelsea.
But, if you totalled up his full stats from his entire last season, then you would see that he actually had 20 goal contributions (10 goals and 10 assists). However, only 2 of those assists came at Chelsea and of course, 0 of the goals.
Photo by Jacques Feeney/Offside/Offside via Getty Images
This season he has improved, and as well as the 4 goals he has scored so far, he also has 2 assists. And remember, he’s a winger not a striker.
The first season was a mix of everything really – the pressure, the situation in his home country, the added pressure and hype by the club and the fanbase (massive hype by the fanbase that is still going on now and is just a bit too OTT), and the fact that he was a young player trying to adapt to a new league and his confidence was shot.
He also didn’t really get a clear run of starts, and to be honest, he isn’t even getting that now either under Mauricio Pochettino. But as I said, he HAS improved this season, the eye test has shown that.
I was never a huge supporter of signing Mudryk at the time, but I can certainly see a player with potential, and a player who could grow into something special. But I also see a confidence player and a player who so far, has not been fully trusted with starts by his managers at Chelsea.
I do think Pochettino has been good for Mudryk though, and the pair share a good relationship. But I question why he is not giving him a run of starts of late, especially when Mudryk was showing some really good signs, and Raheem Sterling has hit some really poor form. Does he just not trust him enough?
I have mixed feelings about Mudryk still, and especially about his first year at Chelsea. I don’t think you can call it a success yet, far from it. But there are some signs starting to show that it could end up being a success. I guess for me you can say the jury is out still.
I think technically he’s got some real ability, and he can certainly show some x-factor at times. He’s got pace for days and can do damage one v one all game long if he’s on his game. But the issues are his decision making, his end product, inconsistencies, and his lack of confidence. He also tends to be bit erratic on the ball and gets over excited, he needs more composure and to back himself.
Mudryk recently turned 23 so he’s not exactly a teenager, and after being in the Premier League for a year now, you would really hope to start seeing something more from him. Some players come to the Premier League and bang right away, others might take a few months, others a year, and some even two years. So I have tried to afford as much patience as possible when watching Mudryk. He’s played some very good games, but also some very poor games.
Lately it has been much more encouraging though, and I truly hope he kicks on now. He seems like a really sound guy and a likeable character, and of course, he’s a Chelsea player – so I am begging him to come good.
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