5 Reasons why Chelsea fans can be optimistic about Mudryk

This happened three and a half minutes into the game, as Mudryk had the chance to give the west London side an early lead against a top-four team. Instead, he nearly whiffed at the ball, and Manchester United went on to win 4-1.

At times the youngster from Shakhtar looked scared in front of the goal when he had chances to score, which is certainly a cause for concern. While it may be hard to be optimistic about Mudryk’s future after his poor showing from last season, there are reasons for Chelsea fans to be excited about what he could potentially become given time.

One, he’s only 22 years old, which means that he is very raw, and still hasn’t played a lot of soccer. Making the jump from the Ukrainian League to the EPL is a massive leap, especially for someone as young as Mudryk.

Two, this may be a grim way to look at things, but it’s the truth. Considering how poor his performances were last season, Mudryk can really only go up from here. As previously stated, he managed to score zero goals and only two assists in 15 appearances. Coming into this season, he’ll have an entire summer with the squad, with a new manager which also gives him a clean slate.

Three, due to the fact that the Blues are going through a massive squad overhaul, many of the players that were heavily featured last season, have been sold to other clubs. As of right now, the only wingers who are on the team apart from Mudryk are Raheem Sterling, Noni Madueke, Callum-Hudson-Odoi, and Hakim Ziyech, who Chelsea has tried to sell repeatedly over the last year.

The club is thin with wingers at the moment, and they don’t have a lot of established players in the position other than Sterling. That said, Mudryk should have plenty of chances to earn a spot in the starting 11.