Chelsea winger Mykhailo Mudryk returned to pre-season training on Monday morning after his campaign at Euro 2024 came to an unfortunate end.
The 23-year-old suffered a heartbreaking group-stage exit from this summer's European Championship after Ukraine finished behind Slovakia, Belgium and Romania in Group E.
Still, the former Shakhtar Donetsk man is eager to make an impression at club level. In fact, he cut short his post-Euro 2024 holiday to join his Chelsea teammates in the first day of pre-season.
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He was joined by Axel Disasi, Malo Gusto, Levi Colwill, Raheem Sterling and Nicolas Jackson, as well as new signing Tosin Adarabioyo and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall.
Reece James, who missed the majority of last season through injury, was also present as Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca got the chance to work with his new squad.
James was snapped hugging teammate Mudryk during the session and after the picture emerged online, many fans picked up on latter's misspelled arm tattoo.
It reads: "Not always does lighting strike when there are sparks."
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After one of Mudryk's group stage performances in Germany, BBC pundit and former Manchester City goalkeeper Joe Hart said Mudryk remains confident of turning his fortunes around at Chelsea.
"There is a huge talent in him," Hart said. "I’ve played against him when he was high on confidence when he was at Shakhtar and they were a pretty average team being honest.
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"We played well against them but he was such a threat the whole game. He smashed two past me over two legs and I was really excited when he signed in the Premier League I was like ‘watch this guy.’
Hart added: "Look, he’s still young. Chelsea’s a bit of a difficult club to shine at the moment.
"But when they do find their feet and if he’s one of the wingers when they do find their feet who are stars in that team, which they will, I’m excited to see what he can do."
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When asked if Mudryk made the wrong decision by joining Chelsea in January last year, Hart added: "Who knows? It’s not gone well for anyone apart from Cole Palmer. That’s just being brutally honest.
"They are trying to build a foundation. He’s a young player, he signed a big long contract, from everything I’ve heard about him he’s someone who wants to improve, wants to work hard, always out doing shooting.
"Look, the talent is in him. It’s just whether they can get it out of him in the Premier League."
Topics: Chelsea, Mykhailo Mudryk, Ukraine, Euro 2024
Jack Kenmare