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Chelsea transfer flop Mykhailo Mudryk was in attendance at the Emirates Stadium on Tuesday night to watch his former club Shakhtar Donetsk take on Arsenal.
Mudryk spent seven years at Ukrainian side Shakhtar before completing a stunning move to Chelsea in 2023.
The highly-rated winger also attracted substantial interest from Arsenal and was said to be keen on a move to north London before Chelsea hijacked the deal and brought him to Stamford Bridge.
Mudryk put pen to paper on an eight-and-a-half year contract with the Blues after Chelsea agreed a 70m euros deal, with a further 30m in bonuses.
The 23-year-old became one of the most expensive signings in Premier League history when he arrived in England but has failed to live up to that billing, enduring a miserable spell in west London.
Mudryk has scored just five Premier League goals since his big-money move and has started just one league game this season under new boss Enzo Maresca.
Such has been his decline, Mudryk was not even included in Chelsea’s squad for Sunday’s trip to Anfield to face Liverpool.
With the Blues set to return to action on Thursday night against Europa Conference League rivals Panathinaikos, Mudryk took advantage of his night off on Tuesday to attend Arsenal’s Champions League clash against Shakhtar Donetsk.
The Amazon Prime cameras picked up Mudryk taking his seat just before kick-off and Chelsea fans were quick to react to his presence at the Emirates, with some even suggesting he should ‘stay there’ following his dismal spell at Stamford Bridge.
‘Can he stay there?’ one supporter asked, while another added: ‘He needs to leave, he’s never gonna do it at Chelsea.’
Several Arsenal fans even seemed to support the idea, with one fan posting on X: ‘Hear me out… six-month loan in January?’
Another said ‘Mikel Arteta can save him’ in reference to Mudryk joining Arsenal, something which was recently suggested by ex-England striker Darren Bent.
‘I do think under Mikel Arteta’s guidance that players would look better,’ Bent told talkSPORT. ‘A prime example – Mudryk.
‘If he had come to Arsenal, he would look better than he does now. Now he’s way off it, he’s completely off it. He’s at a club where players have bypassed him, there’s no clear structure for him.
‘If he goes to Arsenal with a plan that’s clear, that’s half the battle.
‘But with Timo Werner, he’s got all the pace in the world but he doesn’t utilise it, runs offside too often, when he uses his pace to get into good opportunities he doesn’t take those opportunities as we saw against Manchester United.
‘Whereas Kai Havertz’s brain, he hasn’t got as much pace as Timo Werner but it’s more than enough in terms of being effective than hat Timo Werner is.’
Chelsea manager Maresca, meanwhile, has challenged Mudryk to ‘do better’ as he battles to save his Blues career.
‘I don’t think it’s a lack of confidence,’ Maresca said at a pre-match press conference earlier this month.
‘Misha is Misha, you have to accept the way he is. Hopefully he can get minutes and do better.’
But several around Chelsea have already given up hope of Mudryk coming good and justifying his huge price-tag, including ex-defender Jason Cundy.
‘There’s always going to be players like Mudryk who don’t work, who haven’t worked,’ he said on talkSPORT when discussing Chelsea’s transfer strategy in recent years.
‘I think he has got to go out on loan. I don’t see a place for him at the moment. He’s now behind Sancho, he’s behind Neto, he’s behind Noni Madueke, he’s behind Joao Felix.
‘He’s way down that pecking order for me. I don’t see a player in there because you know you have got football IQ.
‘He is rapid, but at times I feel as though the pace, his feet are too quick for his brain, he can’t quite adjust quick enough. He has got so much under the bonnet, but boy, does he disappoint.’
Chelsea have enjoyed a promising start to the 2024-25 season but suffered their second Premier League defeat on Sunday, losing 2-1 to Liverpool at Anfield.
The Blues are sixth in the Premier League – three points outside the Champions League places – ahead of Sunday’s clash against Newcastle United.
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