Shortly after the final whistle had blown at Stamford Bridge on Saturday there came a touching gesture from Roberto De Zerbi. Having finished celebrating Brighton’s deserved victory against Chelsea with his coaching staff, he wandered over to a despondent looking Mykhailo Mudryk and, in the late afternoon sun, embraced the Ukrainian.
Warm words were exchanged too and, all in all, it appeared a lovely moment between two men who spent 16 months working together at Shakhtar Donetsk. It may also have been what Mudryk needed after another game in which he looked way off being an £89m winger. After all, it was under De Zerbi’s guidance that Mudryk’s career ignited at Shakhtar, the Italian’s brilliance as a coach unlocking the 22-year-old’s stunning talents, and in that reunion may have come the very encouragement that leads to him repeating the feat in London.
