Ian Wright is backing winger Mykhailo Mudryk to eventually become a real star for Chelsea despite a tricky start.
Mudryk was one of the biggest stories of the January transfer window after a dramatic transfer saga.
Arsenal had been positioning themselves to sign Mudryk for months having been dazzled by the Shakhtar Donetsk wide man.
Arsenal and Shakhtar just couldn’t agree to a deal though and that allowed Chelsea to swoop in.
Chelsea ended up agreeing to pay £88.5million to sign Mudryk, leaving rivals Arsenal stunned.
Mudryk had excelled in the first half of the season with Shakhtar, bagging 10 goals and eight assists in just 20 games.
Replicating that form for Chelsea has been a little difficult though, with Mudryk yet to find the net for his new club.
Ian Wright backs big things for Mykhailo Mudryk
The Ukrainian wide man did come off the bench for Chelsea on Tuesday, making an appearance against Arsenal.
Gunners fans predictably booed Mudryk having missed out on his signature in January.
One supporter even directed a laser pen in Mudryk’s direction in a rather silly state of affairs.
Mudryk couldn’t help Chelsea turn things around but he did show enough to impress pundit Ian Wright.
Arsenal legend Wright – speaking on Wrighty’s House – suggested that Mudryk was really motoring with the ball against the Gunners.
Wright saw enough to predict that Mudryk will really shine under the right manager at Chelsea.
Wright also condemned the laser pen incident, calling it ‘petty and stupid’ after Arsenal missed out on signing Mudryk.
“Shining that laser on him, it’s so petty and stupid,” said Wright. “When you look at how Mudryk, once he got that ball and started to motor a couple of times, that guy – under the right manager – is going to do stuff.”
“I’m just really sorry to see from our point of view, Arsenal fans doing stuff like that, I just have when those things happen,” he added.
Mauricio Pochettino looks set to be the man who takes charge at Chelsea and will be overseeing Mudryk’s development.
The hope is that Mudryk can eventually pay back that huge transfer fee – but there is a long way to go until that happens.
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