news-engine

Absolute Chelsea How Mykhailo Mudryk Planned For Chelsea Return As Mission & Schedule Revealed A big season for Mudryk as he looks to push on and put the last few years behind him. Mykhailo Mudryk has been given a new lease of life in recent weeks after returning to play football for Chelsea. After the 25-year-old's doping case was resolved, Mudryk was cleared to return to Chelsea this summer, more than 18 months after his last game for the club, in late November 2024. Mudryk, who signed from Shakhtar Donetsk in an initial deal worth £62m in early 2023, immediately linked up with Chelsea on their pre-season tour of Australia and Asia to begin working with new manager Xabi Alonso and his teammates, with many familiar faces alongside new ones. He was given a handful of minutes during pre-season as he made his emotional return, an opportunity Alonso and his teammates were overjoyed to give the Ukrainian as he stepped up his pre-season programme to get ready for matches. He will be hoping to build on his 73 appearances for the club in all competitions, in which he returned 10 goals and 11 assists. Mudryk has one final chance to impress if he's given the opportunity when Chelsea face Real Sociedad in their final pre-season fixture on August 15, and to reunite with the club's supporters, as the game is at Stamford Bridge. It's been a long road for Mudryk, but this summer represents a fresh start for him. As he settles back into life at Chelsea, he gave an interview with the club's in-house media, a safe place for the Ukrainian international, to share how he is feeling after his first few weeks back. He said: "Of course I’m very happy. It's been a while, so to stand back at the same training ground, it's a really happy moment for me. "I feel good, I feel great. I'm grateful to be back on the pitch. It was such a nice feeling to see everyone again. It was a warm welcome. "I missed a lot of the process, the training sessions, games especially, to compete to win and to always be hungry for more." Where Mudryk's future lies remains unclear. He has been linked with a loan move away to get regular minutes in 2026/27, but Chelsea are expected to make a decision over his future towards the end of the summer transfer window. He will not be permanently sold. Regardless of the outcome, Mudryk has prepared himself for this moment: the chance to return to show what he is capable of and put the last few years behind him to resume his career and kick on. "I'd say it was like a pre-season for 18 months," added Mudryk. "So I've been training, I've been training hard. I didn't give up and I just tried to work as hard as I could. "I was working six days a week with proper recovery, with proper sleep schedule, food, everything. Everything was the same, just double sessions per day. "It was to come back and to show myself again in the football world. That was my mission and I knew what I had to do for that. Only through hard work can you reach something." There is a different feeling at Chelsea this summer, with or without Mudryk's return. This includes Alonso's appointment as manager, a shift in strategy to blend experience with the club's young talent after the signings of Danny Welbeck and Jordan Henderson, and key players earning welcome extended breaks. Chelsea will hope everything comes together so they can push on in the Premier League as they look to put their disappointing 10th-place finish last season well and truly behind them.