Xabi Alonso Welcomes Mykhailo Mudryk Back To Chelsea

Chelsea manager ,Xabi Alonso, says he is delighted to have Mykhailo Mudryk back with the squad after the Ukrainian winger completed his suspension and prepares to rejoin the club during their pre-season tour in Asia.

Mykhailo Mudryk has not featured in a competitive match since November 2024 after being provisionally suspended following an adverse finding for the banned substance meldonium.

The Football Association has now concluded its anti-doping proceedings after the 25-year-old accepted breaching anti-doping regulations and agreed to a suspension equivalent to the one year and eight months he had already served.

The winger will link up with Chelsea in Hong Kong after missing the club’s 2-1 friendly defeat to Tottenham Hotspur in Sydney.

“Yes, he is coming to Hong Kong, but I haven’t spoken to him yet,” Alonso said after the match.

The Chelsea boss admitted it is still too early to know when Mudryk will be ready for competitive action after spending almost two years away from football.

“It’s too early to tell how he is in terms of fitness, in terms of the game time you need to be involved again, so it’s still too early to tell,” the coach said.

“But we are happy for him, especially for him, because we are probably not able to understand what he has been through during this time and how he feels at the moment with the things he has had to cope with.”

During his suspension, Mudryk was unable to train at Chelsea’s facilities or work with the club’s coaching staff. Instead, he kept himself fit with a private coach and goalkeepers while training at non-league side Uxbridge.

“We expect that it will take time,” Alonso added.

“He trained on his own every day, and I think it had to be really, really hard because he wanted to play football, he wanted to be part of a team, and he was not allowed to do that for such a long time.

“Afterwards we will see if it’s quicker or slower, but we need to be aware of that. We want him to feel part of the team. Once he is with us, we will see how things develop.”

Mudryk returns to a Chelsea squad that has significantly strengthened its attacking options. Pedro Neto, Estevao Willian, Jamie Gittens and Geovany Quenda are all available on the wings, while Cole Palmer and new £117 million signing Morgan Rogers can also operate in wide positions.

Alonso admitted the timing of the winger’s return had not been anticipated.

“Yeah, to be honest, we were not expecting to have this great news at this moment,” he said.

Tottenham manager Roberto de Zerbi, who coached Mudryk at Shakhtar Donetsk before leaving the Ukrainian club following Russia’s invasion in 2022, also expressed his happiness at the player’s return.

“He is another who is my son,” De Zerbi said. “I am very happy. He deserves to play.

“He is a top guy, a good player. I hope he can show, in this next season, what he suffered over the last two years. Maybe not against Tottenham, but he is a lovely guy and a very, very good player.

“I have to say thank you to all my former players for what they gave me, especially Misha, because I left there because of the war. I left that team, that club, not for football, despite it being maybe the best level of football I have coached.”

Alonso also reflected on the qualities that made Mudryk one of Europe’s most exciting young wingers before his move to Stamford Bridge.

“Yeah, I remember watching him at Shakhtar, the impact he had, how quick he was, how good he was in one-on-one situations and how he could create a lot of situations on his own. He’s a special player, but he will need time, for sure.”