Mykhailo Mudryk has sent Roberto De Zerbi a heartwarming message on social media, hinting at his preferred next Chelsea manager. The duo worked closely at Shakhtar Donetsk for 13 months but, following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Italian terminated his contract and he was later appointed Brighton head coach.
The Blues winger featured 19 times for the Ukrainian side under De Zerbi, directly contributing towards 11 goals. Mudryk first began to attract attention from mainstream media during the 43-year-old's tenure, impressing against Real Madrid and Inter Milan in the 2021/22 Champions League campaign.
Mudryk and De Zerbi finally reunited last weekend when Chelsea welcomed the Seagulls to Stamford Bridge. They were seen exchanging words at full-time and the winger marked the occasion with a touching message on social media.
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On his Instagram, Mudryk posted a picture of himself and De Zerbi with a red heart emoji. He captioned the story: "Nice to meet you again."
The Brighton boss is one of several candidates to be heavily linked with replacing Frank Lampard in the summer. Julian Nagelsmann, Luis Enrique and Zinedine Zidane have all been name-checked in relation to the vacancy too.
While an obvious frontrunner is yet to emerge, Tim Sherwood has urged Chelsea to snap up the Seagulls' head coach. Speaking to Premier League Productions, the former Spurs boss said: "That man in your picture there, I don’t know what Chelsea are waiting for.
"They need a manager, just go and get him. I don’t want to sell Brighton’s manager again. The only reason why Chelsea might not go for him is that Graham Potter has let them down. But this guy is the real deal. He is the real deal manager. They got £21 million for the other manager and he wasn’t any good."
However, Gabby Agbonlahor disagrees. Speaking to Football Insider, the former Aston Villa striker said: "I can’t see Chelsea going for De Zerbi. Obviously, if the defeats keep coming for Potter, he will have to lose his job. That’s clear.
"But they’ve got to have learned their lesson. They can’t go for someone who has done well at a smaller club. They’ve got to go for an elite manager with a track record of working at the highest level. There’s no way De Zerbi is the answer to this problem they’re facing. They’ve got to look elsewhere."
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