Chelsea manager Xabi Alonso says he is “very happy” to be welcoming Mykhailo Mudryk back into his squad, but it is “too early” to understand what he can do.
The 25-year-old Ukrainian winger will join Chelsea‘s pre-season tour after resolving his doping case with the Football Association (FA).
Mudryk has not played a match since November 2024 after being provisionally suspended for returning an “adverse finding” for the banned substance meldonium.
The FA has ended its anti-doping proceedings after Mudryk accepted breaching anti-doping rules and agreed to a suspension equal to the one year and eight months already served.
After a 2-1 defeat by 10-man Tottenham in a friendly in Sydney, Alonso explained Mudryk is joining Chelsea at their next pre-season destination.
“Yes, he is coming to Hong Kong, but I haven’t spoken to him yet,” he said.
Alonso added: “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.
“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.”
Mudryk has not been able to train at Chelsea‘s training ground or work with club staff. Instead, he hired his own private coach and goalkeepers, and conducted training sessions 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.”
Alonso also acknowledged Mudryk’s return is a surprise, with Chelsea having built a squad full of alternative options on the wing.
They have Pedro Neto, Estevao Willian, Jamie Gittens and Geovany Quenda, while both Cole Palmer and new £117m signing Morgan Rogers can play on the flanks.
“Yeah, to be honest, we were not expecting to have this great news at this moment,” he said.
After his side’s win at Accor Stadium, Spurs boss Roberto de Zerbi said he still speaks to Mudryk, having managed him at Shakhtar Donetsk before the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
“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 added: “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.”
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