Mykhailo Mudryk says he has realised only 20 per cent of his potential, but believes Mauricio Pochettino can take him to the next level at Chelsea.
The 22-year-old scored a stunning volley for his first Chelsea goal in a 4-3 friendly victory over Brighton here in Philadelphia.
The £88.5million signing from Shakhtar Donestk went 17 games without a goal last season but was delighted to celebrate with 65,000 supporters at Lincoln Financial Field.
The Ukraine international, having disappointed last season, insists he has a lot more to show Chelsea supporters.
“It is not all my potential. It is only 20 per cent,” he said.
“I feel happy for all the work I put in to get this goal. I really enjoyed that one. When I took my shot, I didn’t think about anything [else]. I practised this stuff in training a lot — this came from training.”
Much was expected from Mudryk when he became the subject of a bidding war between Chelsea and Arsenal in January.
Neither Frank Lampard nor Graham Potter, his former managers, could get the best out of the winger, who started less than half of Chelsea’s matches in his first half season in west London.
When asked to describe his struggles at Chelsea, he simply said: “[It was a] learning period.”
He insisted that he needs “patience” if he is to come good and sent a message to his critics, saying: “If people always expect so much from someone then it is his problem because he is [the one who is] expecting.”
Christopher Nkunku, Nicolas Jackson and Conor Gallagher scored the other three in reply to goals from Danny Welbeck and Joao Pedro on Saturday night.
It was Jackson who won man of the match after he also secured two assists and helped Mudryk to break his goalless streak.
Mudryk was impressed by Jackson’s 30-minute cameo. He said: “Just imagine, this was our first game together. Just imagine [what we can do].”
