Chelsea supporters may get their first glimpse of Mykhailo Mudryk when we take on Liverpool at Anfield today, and his new head coach Graham Potter has provided an insight into the personality behind the player.
Mudryk arrived from Shakhtar Donetsk last weekend and has already looked lively in his first week of training. Potter confirmed in his pre-match press conference there is a good chance he will get some involvement at Anfield.
As he adjusts to life in a new country and at a new club, Potter has given some detail on the Ukrainian’s character from their first few exchanges in person.
‘He’s quiet but he’s determined, very focused, very ambitious, very hard working,’ the head coach said. ‘He wants to succeed, he has good intentions.
‘He’s young, so there are aspects of his game he can develop and he’s here to try to do that. You can’t do anything about the noise around him, you have to accept what it is. Now it’s about focusing on helping him settle in and not putting too much pressure on him.
‘It doesn’t matter what the price tag says, it’s about how a human being goes from this league in this country, to this league in this country, and help him understand us as a club. If we do that well, he will be a huge success.’
Mudryk put pen to paper on an eight-and-a-half year deal at the Bridge, following the likes of Benoit Badiashile and Carney Chukwuemeka in signing long contracts.
Potter explained what the benefits are of such long contracts, hitherto rare in English football, and also underlined why nothing can be taken for granted when you bring a new player in.
‘If you identify the right player and the right person, there are huge upsides to it. It’s a project for him and for us, and you can get synergy between the two of you. If things go well, you have a fantastic asset and the club is secure in terms of the contract length.
‘It’s a direction the club want to go down, and I’m supportive of that as best I can.
‘Of course, there are no guarantees with any transfer, no magic formula that says this will work,’ continued Potter.
‘With whatever decision you go into you, you should have the humility to say you haven’t got all the answers. You have to make the most educated guess you can, and try to predict as closely as you can what you think can happen. That’s the challenge for us all.’