Chelsea signed Mykhailo Mudryk in a whopping £88million deal after hijacking Arsenal's move for the Ukraine international in the January transfer window. The 22-year-old talent has struggled to show why the Blues paid a huge fee to bring him to the club - but he is not the only new signing to find things tough at Stamford Bridge.
Even players that were playing for the Blues prior to Todd Boehly and the Clearlake Capital consortium completing a £4billion takeover have lacked confidence and performed below expectations this season. Chelsea have played under four different managers this term with players struggling to perform on the pitch under each figure in the dugout.
Thomas Tuchel was replaced by Graham Potter in September last year, before the ex-Brighton boss was then sacked with Bruno Saltor taking charge for a single game against Liverpool. This was followed by the arrival of Frank Lampard as caretaker boss until the end of the season - with Chelsea yet to win under the Blues legend.
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Lampard has already admitted that Mudryk is one of the many players that are viewed as a long-term project at Stamford Bridge despite his transfer fee putting huge expectations on his young shoulders. When discussing the Ukraine international, the Blues' caretaker boss said: “There are things that maybe don’t get seen behind the scenes that don’t relate straight onto the pitch because we’re hoping that [Mykhailo] Mudryk will be a great player at this club, over the years.
"So, in this short period it might be flashes of that that you see. But he also will need to learn a lot of things about the game, which is very long for developing players of course.”
Kai Havertz has put some of Chelsea's struggles this season down to the sheer amount of new players that have joined the club in a chaotic first full season for the new ownership. The German forward said: "We got a lot of new players over the winter who first have to settle in with us in order to be able to show their quality.
"Of course, it’s easy to find excuses. I’m not blaming everything on something.
"At the end of the day, we’re all professional footballers and we have to win football games, now we have our backs to the wall and aren’t doing very well in the table. We just have to do as well as possible from the last six games."
Havertz is right. Throwing money at a club and bringing in over £600million of talent will not always solve all of your problems on the pitch and Todd Boehly will have learnt that throughout a difficult 2022/23 campaign.
Mudryk has already shown glimpses of what he can do on the pitch after a strong first appearance for the Blues, as he tore James Milner apart against Liverpool at Anfield - historically one of the toughest away ground experiences for a player. The 22-year-old has registered just two assists in his 13 appearances following his £88million move - but some players do take longer to adapt to the Premier League and with everything that has happened at Stamford Bridge this season, it's no surprise to see the Ukrainian winger struggling to show his ability.
A new manager will be appointed ahead of the 2023/24 campaign with Mauricio Pochettino leading the race to succeed Potter at Chelsea. The former Tottenham and Paris Saint-Germain boss has the right skills to bring the best out of young players and develop them into world-class talents - which is just what Mudryk needs.
With many players set to leave the squad this summer as Todd Boehly prepares to overhaul the senior team once again - this will open up more opportunities for Mudryk to play and almost act as a clean slate for him to prove himself. Other new signings such as Enzo Fernandez, Noni Madueke and Benoit Badiashile may benefit from a new managerial appointment and fresh approach to the new season as the Blues look to get back to challenging for trophies and Champions League football.
The young Ukrainian has shown he has all the raw talent and ability to become one of the most dangerous attackers in the division. It's his end product, confidence and technical skills that need fine-tuning if he is to start repaying the huge fee Chelsea invested in him - and that will only come with time and hard work with the right manager to develop him further.
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