Chelsea

Chelsea

Premier League • England

Enzo Maresca drops update on big-money Chelsea flop who’s desperate to leave in January

Enzo Maresca has shared his thoughts on Mykhailo Mudryk

Enzo Maresca has shared his thoughts on Mykhailo Mudryk

Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca has hinted that Mykhailo Mudryk will not be playing anytime soon amid his desire to seal a move away from the club in January.

The Ukrainian winger has struggled to settle at Stamford Bridge since his £88.5m (including add-ons) move from Shakhtar Donetsk in January 2023.

Mudryk has played just 61 minutes of Premier League football so far this season from two substitute appearances against Wolves and Crystal Palace.

Noni Madueke, Cole Palmer, Christopher Nkunku, Pedro Neto and new signing Jadon Sancho are all ahead of the 23-year-old in the pecking order.

When asked how Mudryk can develop with so few first-team opportunities in a press conference, Maresca said: “Training sessions is the only way to improve players.

“We try to improve them every day with some of them doing extra sessions at the end – Misha is one of them.”

“At this moment he is not playing, it doesn’t mean he’s not going to play in the future.”

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Mudryk wants out of Chelsea – sources

TEAMtalk transfer correspondent Fraser (Fletcher) Gillan exclusively revealed on Wednesday that Mudryk is desperate to leave Chelsea in January in pursuit of more playing time.

The Ukrainian has grown frustrated by his lack of minutes and fears it is affecting his development. We understand that Chelsea are open to offloading Mudryk in January, with sources describing an exit as “very possible.”

There is interest in Mudryk from the Premier League and around Europe. Bayern Munich, for example, pushed to sign him on loan in January this year.

Bayern are still looking at Mudryk but their interest has cooled now that Thomas Tuchel has left the German giants and Vincent Kompany took the reins.

A loan move is most likely for Mudryk this winter as clubs are generally reluctant to splash out big sums mid-season.

Chelsea are unlikely to recoup the fee they paid to sign Mudryk. A successful loan spell could be the best opportunity for his valuation to rise again.

TEAMtalk also understands that Chelsea are willing to part ways with Axel Disasi, Benoit Badiashile and Ben Chilwell in January if a suitable offer is tabled.

Chelsea want to strengthen two key areas 

Chelsea are also looking to strengthen in January and reports suggest that they want to bring in a new right-back to cover for injury-plagued star Reece James.

The Blues have drawn up a five-man shortlist of targets for the position and big names such as Barcelona’s Jules Kounde and Bayer Leverkusen’s Jeremie Doku are being eyed.

Chelsea could also look to bring in a new striker, depending on how Nicolas Jackson, Nkunku and Joao Felix perform over the next few months.

Their top target for much of the summer was Napoli striker Victor Osimhen but they were unable to seal a deal despite being in talks with his representatives into the final hours of the window.

Chelsea remain interested in Osimhen and could get the opportunity to sign him in January thanks to a break clause in his loan agreement with Galatasaray.

IN FOCUS: Mykhailo Mudryk vs Jadon Sancho 2023/24

TT has taken a look at how Mudryk and Sancho fare in terms of their respective 2023/24 campaigns – displaying why Maresca seems to prefer the latter.

Sancho was dropped from the Manchester United first team for the first half of the season before being loaned to Borussia Dortmund in January, where he helped the German giants reach the Champions League final.

Mykhailo Mudryk, Jadon Sancho stats last season
Mykhailo Mudryk, Jadon Sancho stats last season

Sancho clearly has the edge in terms of chances created and dribbles completed per game, while he also keeps possession more consistently than Mudryk, with a higher pass completion rate.

Mudryk betters Sancho in terms of goals scored but he played over double the amount of matches, so you could argue that Sancho is still more dangerous in front of goal.

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