To say that Mykhailo Mudryk didn’t exactly have the best start to life in a Chelsea shirt last season would be quite the understatement.Arriving for a reported £88.5m, whilst still a young player, he was expected to turn the Blues’ fortunes around. Instead, however, nothing changed, apart from the lower amount left in the transfer budget at Stamford Bridge as he failed to score a goal in his first 17 outings.In truth, though, it was always going to be difficult for Mudryk to hit the ground running mid-season in a dressing room overfilled and under-motivated under Graham Potter, and then Frank Lampard.With Mauricio Pochettino’s arrival, the Blues have at least made space in the dressing room, waving goodbye to a total of 16 players so far this summer, and welcoming just four new signings.As the chaos is slowly but surely organised, Mudryk has the chance to get a good pre-season under his belt, and, as a result, find his best form. If Chelsea’s friendly against Brighton & Hove Albion is anything to go by, too, he is nearing his best with every game.
Mykhailo Mudryk impresses against Brighton
Taking on Roberto de Zerbi’s Brighton side, Chelsea came out on top, winning 4-3 in a back-and-forth affair.
Initially taking the lead through Danny Welbeck, the Seagulls were soon hit with a four-goal reply, as Christopher Nkunku found the back of the net, before Mudryk scored his first goal for the club, and strikes from Conor Gallagher and summer arrival Nicolas Jackson followed.
Brighton threatened to complete a comeback when Joao Pedro scored from the spot, before Deniz Undav slotted past Kepa Arrizablaga, but it wasn’t enough as Chelsea secured the win.
One particularly impressive moment from Mudryk came with his incredible show of pace – as shown in the footage above. The winger looked to have knocked the ball too far down the line at first, before somehow turning on the afterburners, and catching the ball with relative ease. The change of pace led to his teammate, Angelo Gabriel, labelling him “Naruto” and “very fast” on his Instagram story.
Whilst we haven’t seen his pace very often in the Premier League, it should not come as any surprise, considering the fact that Mudryk was one of the Champions League’s fastest players last season, coming in at second in the competition (only behind Alphonso Davies) with a speed of 36.6 KM/H.
Mudryk’s goal was also impressive, too, as he struck on the volley from range.
What is the market value of Mykhailo Mudryk?
Arriving at Stamford Bridge for a reported £88.5m in January, Mudryk’s struggle for form has seen his transfer value decrease in the last seven months. According to Transfermarkt, the Ukraine international is now worth €50m (£43.20m), which is less than half the amount that Chelsea initially paid for his signature back in January.
Pochettino will be hoping to see the Ukrainian finally live up to that price tag next season, however, as he looks to take the London club back into the Premier League’s top four at the first time of asking.
Even though it was only a pre-season game, defeating Brighton would have handed Chelsea quite the boost ahead of the season. It’s the type of confidence they can take into their opening-day clash against Liverpool at Stamford Bridge.
If they can defeat Jurgen Klopp’s side in their first game, too, then they may just enjoy an unexpectedly quick start to the new campaign.
