Graham Potter is ready to give Mykhailo Mudryk his Chelsea debut away to Liverpool this weekend.
The £88.5million signing arrived on an eight-and-a-half-year deal last weekend, but hasn’t played a competitive match for 59 days due to the break for the World Cup.
However, Mudryk could still start in the match at Anfield on Saturday after training with his new team-mates this week.
Potter warned that the 22-year-old’s minutes will likely be managed, but he isn’t concerned about giving him a debut in one of English football’s biggest matches.
The Chelsea boss said: “He’s settled in really good. He’s a young player, an exciting player, fantastic speed one-v-one, can attack the back line. Now we’ve just got to help him adapt to the Premier League, adapt to us.
“He’s obviously come from a mid-season break so hasn’t played so much football recently, but has been training well, so we’ll assess him and see how much he can play at the weekend.
“There’s a chance he could make his debut. It’s how much he can do. I think 90 minutes no, but there’s probably a role for him at some stage in the game.
“You’ve just got to help him understand and help everyone understand that he’s coming from a different country, a different league, so he has to adapt. He’s a young player who’s got a lot of potential, a lot of upside, but at the same time he’s had some really good experiences already. So he’s an exciting player.
“He’s very happy to be here. He is looking forward to his career here and looking forward to getting started.”
Potter was also asked about the incoming signing of PSV forward Noni Madueke who is in London finalising his medical after a £29m deal was struck on Thursday night.
The 20-year-old is set to be the Blues’ sixth January arrival, and will take the spending spree this season under Todd Boehly beyond £450m.
“The club hasn’t announced anything and I’m not in a position to speak any more until he’s a Chelsea player. Until then there’s nothing else to say,” Potter said.
