Paul Merson has slammed Mykhaylo Mudryk for showing ‘nothing’ since his transfer from Shakhtar Donetsk to Chelsea. The Blues beat Arsenal to sign the Ukraine winger in January.
Chelsea paid £88.5m to bring the 22-year-old to the Premier League during the mid-season market. Mudryk also put pen to paper on a £97k-a-week contract that can reach 2031. But he is yet to score or produce an assist during five appearances under Graham Potter so far.
Mudryk has also only started during three of his games across all competitions for the west London club. Potter has further only afforded the eight-cap dynamo a total of 244 minutes through his outings. He also removed the winger at half-time during a 0-0 draw at Fulham.
Chelsea are yet to win a match in which Mudryk has played following three draws and two defeats. Yet had the January sales ended differently, the forward could have been playing for Mikel Arteta in north London. Arsenal also sought to gain his signature over the winter.
Mudryk chose a transfer to Chelsea over Arsenal to leave Shakhtar Donetsk
But Shakhtar Donetsk sporting director Darijo Srna has told Football Ramble that Mudryk chose to accept Chelsea’s offer over a transfer to Arsenal. The Gunners were ‘in love’ with the winger. While chief executive Sergei Palkin recently confirmed to The Athletic they bid.
Palkin stated: “When they proposed the final offer of €70m (£61.5m) plus [add-ons worth] €30m (£26.5m), we sat down and started to talk internally about how it will be fulfilled in terms of the payments, the fixed part and the bonus issues.
“We realised we will not close this deal [with Arsenal]. I said to [Gunners sporting director] Edu that I did my best but it was not possible.”
Now, Arsenal icon Merson believes Mudryk is flopping at Chelsea bar 20 minutes since his transfer from Shakhtar Donetsk. He also feels the fee the Stamford Bridge side paid for the forward means Mudryk cannot justify requiring a bedding-in period in the Premier League.
“I look at the quality of the players and I question it,” he admits in a column for Sky Sports. “They brought Mykhaylo Mudryk for £88m and – bar a cameo of 20 minutes – he’s shown nothing. I mean nothing. You wouldn’t expect to need time to settle in at that price.”
Mudryk enjoyed a promising cameo on debut for Chelsea against Liverpool in January. But the winger still spurned a reasonable chance to score after weaving his way through three defenders. He also wasted another opening after failing to control Hakim Ziyech’s delivery.
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