The headlines coming out of Saturday's goalless stalemate between Liverpool and Chelsea at Anfield were all about the Blues' new signing Mykhailo Mudryk.
The 22-year-old attacker made his debut for Chelsea following his big-money arrival last weekend. Mudryk came on with 35 minutes to go as the Blues looked for a winner at Anfield. He wasn't able to get it, but he looked the most likely after he entered the field.
"He was really good," Graham Potter said on Mudryk after the game. "He's only been with us a couple of days and he'll get better the more he is with us and the more we understand him and the more he understands us. But promising signs."
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Unfortunately for Chelsea supporters, they have to wait another 11 days until they can see Mudryk in action again. The Blues are out of the FA Cup, so they have no fixture this weekend following their exit at the hands of Manchester City in the third round of the competition.
So the next time we could see Mudryk play is against Fulham at Stamford Bridge on February 3. The Ukraine international is expected to start after an impressive 35-minute cameo against Liverpool. The main reason he didn't start at Anfield was because of the lack of football he's played recently, with his last competitive appearance before that coming in November.
However, with almost a fortnight more of training under his belt, Mudryk could indeed start against Chelsea's west London rivals. The former Shakhtar Donetsk attacker played on the left wing against Liverpool, where he caused James Milner all sorts of problems and eventually forced Jurgen Klopp to make a tactical change and bring Trent Alexander-Arnold on.
So, for the moment at least, we can expect to see Mudryk operate on the left-hand side but that could spell bad news for Mason Mount. The England international, who has shown pretty poor form so far this season for his club, is the man who usually plays on the left flank, whether that's in a three-at-the-back formation, or with the 4-3-3 Potter has used recently.
Hakim Ziyech is in impressive form on the right-hand side of the attack, so for the moment at least his place in the side looks to be safe. Kai Havertz has been better in the last two games and was very unfortunate not to have back-to-back Premier League goals after his strike was ruled out for the tightest of offside calls early on in the draw with Liverpool.
So it probably does make sense for Mount to have a spell out of the starting XI. It's something the Cobham graduate could benefit from more than anything. He's clearly a really talented player and his return over the past couple of seasons means he has enough credit in the bank to allow for this poor run of form.
His place in the side, however, should not be a guarantee and Potter needs to make that clear. Mudryk definitely showed enough in his short time on the pitch to warrant a start against Fulham should he be fit enough by the time February 3 comes around.
This might mean Mount dropping out of the side completely, or perhaps put him in a slightly deeper position. Potter has used the 4-3-3 formation plenty of times since the World Cup and Mount has the know-how and ability to play as one of the wide centre midfielders in a trio in the middle of the pitch.
Mount's seniority at the club, despite still being 24, he is now seen as one of the more senior figures at Chelsea and it's his responsibility, for when a signing like Mudryk arrives, to make them feel welcome. Speaking to the club's official website, Mount addressed how his role has changed at Chelsea in his fourth year.
"As the years start to go on, you have to start to have a different role and for me, now, this is my fourth year," the England international explained. "So when the new players come in, it's up to me to go and help them and make them feel welcome. Even though I am still young, I am one of the more experienced ones in the group.
"So it's just making them feel welcome, making them feel confident. You can see that when they come on the pitch, like Mudryk on Saturday. He's very confident and wants to show what he can do, along with the other players that we've got. So it's exciting times."
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