Mudryk mystery deepens as doping test failure puts stalled career in jeopardy

One sad reality of misfiring winger's absence is that it will be unlikely to affect Chelsea's hopes of challenging for title

- Jacob Steinberg

People who come across Mykhailo Mudryk often sense a distance. Intentionally or not, mystery attaches itself to the shy young man who caused such excitement when he turned up at Stamford Bridge in January 2023. None of the winger's managers at Chelsea have been able to crack the code and the sense is that Mudryk's guard will go higher after the Football Association provisionally suspended him after a positive drug test.

This is a story without winners. A career that promised so much is in danger of falling apart, and one of the saddest aspects of Mudryk's plight is that his absence is unlikely to derail Chelsea's burgeoning title challenge.

Enzo Maresca will be able to cope perfectly well without the 23-year-old. Chelsea's head coach is not short of options in attack. Mudryk, who has never looked settled since moving to England, is a mere afterthought these days. It was not as if Chelsea missed the former Shakhtar Donetsk player when they beat Brentford last Sunday. Mudryk, signed for an overall package of £89m, has not started a league game since being taken off at half-time during a 6-2 win against Wolves in August.

The sad truth is he has been a huge disappointment. Although he has raw talent, Mudryk has rarely displayed much game intelligence and has often left his coaches exasperated. "We want the best for Misha," Maresca said in October. "He's one of the guys that the learning process is more slow compared to the rest."