Chelsea and Enzo Maresca have been slammed over their treatment of “Ferrari” Mykhaylo Mudryk by Shakhtar Donetsk chief Sergiy Palkin.
Mudryk moved to Chelsea from Shakhtar for £62m in January 2023, in a deal which could rise to £89m, but the Ukraine international has struggled at Stamford Bridge.
He’s produced just seven goals and seven assists in 66 Chelsea games and has started just one Premier League game under new boss Enzo Maresca; he was hooked at half-time in that one.
The arrivals of Jadon Sancho and Pedro Neto in the summer has made game time even harder to come by for Mudryk, who was left out of the squad altogether for the trip to Anfield on Sunday before being spotted watching Arsenal’s Champions League clash against Shakhtar on Tuesday from the stands.
Amid reports Chelsea would be willing to listen to offers for the 23-year-old in January, Shakhtar general director Palkin claims the club is to blame for Mudryk’s struggles.
“You don’t need a Ferrari if you don’t know how to drive it,” the Shakhtar chief told GOAL.
“A normal car will do. If you buy a Ferrari, you should think about how to handle it. That’s my opinion on Mudryk at Chelsea.
“I am sure that he will show his qualities when he gets the chance. He is an absolute difference maker.
“[That can] be seen in his appearances for the Ukrainian national team. There are very few players in this category.”
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Mudryk is under contract at Chelsea until 2031 having signed a mammoth contract when he arrived at Stamford Bridge, but Ukraine teammate Georgiy Sudakov reckons that’s good news for the Blues as his compatriot has the “qualities” to win the Ballon d’Or.
“Mykhailo is an incredible player, he has no upper limit and he can win the Ballon d’Or with his qualities,” Sudakov told The Guardian.
“But everything depends only on him. I believe he will be able to show his best qualities. Ukraine is an incredibly talented country and he is a great example for us to follow.”
After he left Mudryk out of the squad to play Liverpool, Maresca was asked about Mudryk and insisted he needed to take his chance when it came along.
Maresca said: “I left Mudryk out of the squad to face Liverpool only for technical decision.
“When will Misha fulfil his potential? I don’t know. We try to work with Misha every day and hopefully he can get better and better day by day with us.
“It’s more or less like Joao [Felix]; he is doing well. The thing is in the moment there are more players doing well. When they get the chance, they need to take it.”
