Chelsea left winger Mykhaylo Mudryk has become the most polarizing figure at the club, with manager Enzo Maresca effectively burying him publicly by stating that the forward’s struggles are not down to a lack of confidence.
Instead, Maresca implied that Mudryk’s problem is a lack of overall quality in his failure to meet the Chelsea standard to this point in his career, flatly stating, “Misha is Misha” in one of the most biting quotes a manger has delivered to a current player in recent memory.
But the funny thing about all the Mudryk criticisms from the fans, from Maresca to the media, and behind closed doors at Stamford Bridge is the simple fact that Chelsea could have sold home and avoided all of this controversy.
Fabrizio Romano revealed on his YouTube channel that a club in the Bundesliga offered Chelsea the opportunity to sell Mykhaylo Mudryk, but the Blues rejected because they remained believers in the 100 million euro signing’s long-term potential.
It’s easy to forget, but Mudryk is still only 23 and was so good for Shakhtar Donetsk that he was also badly wanted by arch rivals Arsenal. Furthermore, he dazzled against Real Madrid in the Champions League.
We have yet to see that version of Mudryk truly show up in the Premier League, as he is often the club’s worst player in big matches and only marginally decent in the most rudimentary of fixtures, such as the recent rubbing of League Two outfit Barrow.
Mudryk is playing for his job this season with every minute he steps foot onto the pitch, which makes it even more interesting that Maresca and his staff believed in him enough to not get rid of him this summer.
The reality is that most Bundesliga clubs who would be interested in Mudryk don’t have much money, so Chelsea probably only rejected the offer because it was very low financially in comparison to the initial 100 million euro investment.
Therefore, it would make logical sense for Chelsea to wait and reject low offers for Mudryk, holding out hope for a purple patch that yields a breakout – or, at very least, a richer transfer fee.
It’s a bit of a shame for Mudryk, though, because his raw speed and counterattacking style would be a much, much better fit in the swashbuckling Bundesliga than in England.
The managing editor of The Trivela Effect, Kevin has 15 years of experience in digital media. He covered Real Madrid from 2019-2022 for The Real Champs as a site manager. His work has been featured in ESPN, Bleacher Report, Yahoo! Sports, NBC Sports, and other major outlets. You can contact him at the site’s official Twitter handle @TrivelaEffect or via the site’s official email thetrivelaeffect@gmail.com.