Mykhaylo Mudryk’s former team-mate, Georgiy Sudakov, claims to have spoken with the Chelsea man about why his Premier League career is yet to take off. And Mudryk has allegedly pinned the blame on a lack of killer service from those at Stamford Bridge, with Mauricio Pochettino’s side collectively struggling for consistency.
Mudryk has scored only two Premier League goals since signing from Shakhtar in a bumper £88million deal back in January. The 22-year-old has been forced to make do with cameos from the bench throughout November, with Raheem Sterling and Cole Palmer locking down the wide positions.
Another shake-up could be on the cards, however, after the Blues were humbled by Newcastle United in a 4-1 thrashing on Saturday. Mudryk came on for the final 20 minutes but he was unable to turn the tide in Chelsea’s favour.
Approaching his one-year anniversary in west London, the Ukraine international has come nowhere near the scintillating Shakhtar form which convinced Chelsea to part with such a huge transfer fee.
Sudakov, who rose through the ranks alongside Mudryk in his homeland, claims that the Chelsea youngster has a theory which may explain why. “Misha has got huge potential,” he said in an interview with The Telegraph earlier this month.
“Perhaps one of the reasons why you don’t see him at the top level in England yet is because, he is saying, there is not such a player like [me] who constantly delivers top passes and assists for him.”
The international break came at the worst possible time for Chelsea, who had seemingly put a torrid few months behind them by taking points from Arsenal, Tottenham and City in a four-week period.
But a humbling at St James’ Park last time out has put Pochettino back under the cosh. The former Spurs boss is now gearing his side up for a testing Premier League double-header against Brighton and Manchester United.
