Ben Chilwell thinks Chelsea and Ukraine winger Mykhaylo Mudryk has “endless potential” that simply has not “been fulfilled yet”.
Chelsea beat Arsenal in the race to sign Mudryk from Shakhtar Donetsk during the January transfer window earlier this year.
Arsenal appeared the favourites to sign the attacker initially but Chelsea swooped to snatch the talented winger from under their rivals’ noeses. Mudryk cost an initial £60m but the fee for him could rise to around £88m with add-ons.
Pressure is on Mudryk to perform under new boss Mauricio Pochettino and he scored in Chelsea’s 4-3 win in their friendly against Brighton earlier this month.
Chilwell has revealed he’s told Mudryk that he “needs to keep up” his recent form “for the whole season”.
“With Misha, I just see endless potential that hasn’t been fulfilled yet,” Chilwell told The Athletic.
“I’ve told him that – I’m not just saying that. I’ve told him he hasn’t fulfilled that yet for one reason or another.
“I had a conversation with him after training in the changing room, because he’s been on fire the last few days and obviously was on fire in the game against Brighton, and I just said he needs to keep that up now for the whole season.
“His decision-making has been bang-on: when to shoot, when to dribble, when to pass.
“I just said he needs to continue doing that and have confidence in his ability, that we’re all completely behind him.
“We all see how good he is, he just needs to keep up what he’s been doing.”
READ MORE: Chelsea demand Mbappe ‘hunger’, anti-French Klopp… why each Prem club won’t sign PSG star
Chelsea only scored 38 Premier League goals last season and Pochettino has attempted to remedy this with the addition of Nicolas Jackson.
They have also been linked with Tottenham’s Harry Kane. Pochettino has dismissed Chelsea’s chances of signing the Englishman but he admitted that he wants to “add players that can score”.
“You are talking about one of the greatest strikers in the world,” Pochettino said. “I think it’s too unfair to talk (about a player at another club). The most important thing is that fans are not stupid. They are so clever. They know my relationship with him was always amazing.
“I saw him when he was young and grow up and achieve all that he was achieving. We have a great relationship.
“At the moment, we are thinking (in the transfer market) in a different way. We are not thinking that. We’re working hard to try to provide the squad with good quality.
“We are working on that and still we have time to work. For sure we are going to add players that can score and we are going to find the best way to play.”
READ MORE: Summer transfer window 2023… Chelsea clear as the biggest-earning European club