Mykhailo Mudryk offered Chelsea fans hope for a brighter future after enjoying a starring role for Ukraine at the European Under-21 Championship.
The winger was in excellent form to guide Ruslan Rotan’s side into the semi-finals of the 2023 tournament with an impressive 3-1 upset defeat of fancied France in Cluj, Romania on Sunday night.
Mudryk’s superb mazy run through most of the French half and into the box shortly before the half-hour mark led to him earning a penalty following a foul by Pierre Kalulu.
The spot-kick was duly converted by Georgiy Sudakov as Ukraine restored parity following Rayan Cherki’s early opener.
The evening just got better for Mudryk, who dusted himself down to provide another assist for Shakhtar Donetsk midfielder Sudakov just prior to half-time.
The 22-year-old delivered a special, inch-perfect long pass over the top of the French defence from inside his own half for his former club team-mate to slot coolly beyond France goalkeeper Lucas Chevalier.
Mudryk was a constant threat all night long for Ukraine, who made sure of a semi-final showdown with Group B rivals Spain in Bucharest on Wednesday night courtesy of a wonderful late goal from Shakhtar’s Artem Bondarenko.
Mudryk will hope his excellent display on Sunday is the start of an upturn in fortunes, having struggled notably in the aftermath of his much-hyped £88.5million transfer from Shakhtar to Chelsea in January.
He failed to score in his first 17 appearances across all competitions after the Blues gazumped London rivals Arsenal in dramatic fashion and made only seven starts in a dismal Premier League campaign for the club.
But the arrival of Mauricio Pochettino as Chelsea’s long-term successor to Graham Potter could give Mudryk a new lease of life for next season.
A fully-fledged Ukraine international with 11 senior caps to his name, including in last month’s games against Germany and North Macedonia, Mudryk reportedly wanted to play at the U21 Euros in a bid to find form and fitness and made his first appearance of the tournament against France having been rested throughout the group stage.
