Chelsea work on loan exit for £88m flop ‘without ruling out sale’ to club ‘willing to lose its head’

Will Ford
Mykhaylo Mudryk Chelsea
Mykhaylo Mudryk has struggled since his big-money move to Chelsea in January.

Chelsea are reportedly working on a loan move for Mykhaylo Mudryk in January, with a report claiming he could move away from Stamford Bridge permanently.

The Ukraine international joined the Blues for a fee that could rise to as much as £88m from Shakhtar Donetsk in January, as Todd Boehly beat off fierce competition from Arsenal to land him.

But the winger has struggled since his arrival, managing just two assists in the 21 games he has played so far to Chelsea, with no goals.

After Mudryk started in Chelsea’s 1-1 draw with Bournemouth last weekend, manager Mauricio Pochettino said he “still needs to learn in the Premier League”.

The Argentinian boss added: “It’s very fast. He needs to understand the game better, try to be more connected with the team. We need to give the time and tools for him to improve during the season.”

But a report in Fichajes claims Chelsea are open to him improving away from Stamford Bridge in the second half of the season.

It’s claimed they are ‘working on finding a short-term solution that is beneficial for both the player and the club, already evaluating a possible transfer to another team where Mudryk can have more minutes of play and develop his talent throughout the second round of 2023/2024’.

While that suggests a loan, the report adds they will have those conversations with suitors ‘without ruling out a sale in case any club was willing to lose its head to the Ukrainian attacker’.

‘Serveral teams are looking for the services of the Ukrainian winger’.

Former Premier League winger Theo Walcott, who knows a thing or two about using speed to his advantage, urged Mudryk to use that “scary” asset.

“I would say actually with Mudryk, I faced him last year and he faced me up and he’s scary, he’s very quick, I think he’s just got to rely on that,” he said on Sky Sports.

“Don’t be afraid to keep going. I feel like as wingers, when you have the atmosphere, it can be a tight pitch, it’s going to be condensed for him, but you’ve got to trust your strength and his strength is all pace, use it.”

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