Mykhaylo Mudryk has had a couple of really eventful months since the start of 2023. Last month, it initially appeared that the Ukrainian winger was poised to join Arsenal.
He flirted with the Gunners for a long time, posting pictures of him watching their games and even promoting a picture of him wearing an Arsenal kit.
The Blues ended up ousting their London rivals to the chase and struck an agreement with Shakhtar Donetsk for his signing. In the end, they managed to rope him in for over £80m and tie him down to a contract until 2031.
Mudryk had never played in a major European league before his move to Stamford Bridge but has been put into the deep end since arriving.
He had a relatively memorable debut, producing an excellent 30-minute cameo in his side’s 0-0 draw against Liverpool – in which he left James Milner gasping for air.
Arsenal legend Paul Merson criticises Mudryk
But things have gone downhill for Mudryk ever since that. The 22-year-old has started in Chelsea’s last four games but has not been able to inspire them to actually win a game.
He’s not even competed for the entire 90 minutes in his five appearances for Chelsea and has not been able to make any kind of positive impact early into his Chelsea career.
While the winger’s exhilarating pace is his strongest suit, he lacks ruthlessness in his game. Mudryk’s close control has been criticized by many, while his finishing and ability to pick out that perfect final pass have also been uninspiring.
The Ukranian has received a lot of criticism for his poor performances, with Arsenal legend Paul Merson laying into him. He told Sky Sports: “They brought Mykhailo Mudryk for £88m and, bar a cameo of 20 minutes, he’s shown nothing. I mean NOTHING. You wouldn’t expect to need time to settle in at that price.”
Merson has echoed the opinions of many fans with his comments, with there being a feeling that Chelsea might’ve been robbed by Shakhtar into paying such a huge amount of money for him.
Mudryk looks determined to turn around form by sweating it out in gym
Considering that Mudryk is actually quite regularly active on social media, he should be well aware of the criticism pointed at him.
The 22-year-old seems to believe that the only way he can silence his doubters is by working as hard as possible to improve his form. Mudryk recently uploaded a video of him hustling it out in the gym trying to improve his physique to cope better with the intensity of the Premier League.
Mudryk appears to be focusing more on bulking up and weight-lifting exercises in the gym.
His clip showed him deadlifting 150 KG weights, showing just how strong he is. The Ukrainian winger is aware that he’ll need to be more muscular and strong to stop defenders from overpowering him and also ensure nobody can stop him on his blazing forward runs.
The winger, however, did not seem to impress some Chelsea fans. A few supporters believe that it’s useless for him to do work in the gym and want him to focus on improving other aspects like improving his first touch as well as being more clinical with his final product.
Graham Potter gave his squad two days off due to a lack of games in mid-week. Mudryk will, of course, need to do much, much better to validate his huge transfer fee – but nobody can deny his work ethic and desire to succeed at Stamford Bridge.
