Mudryk learns if Chelsea swap will work as fresh deal ‘to be signed’

Mykhaylo Mudryk can rest easy after hearing the news that he won’t be battling it out with Rafael Leao for a starting spot at Chelsea next season. Reports emerged on Thursday that the Blues were considering a swap deal with AC Milan that would see the Portuguese forward swap places with either Ruben Loftus-Cheek or Kalidou Koulibaly.

According to 90min, Chelsea had been plotting the offer while Leao negotiated an extension on his contract with Milan. Leao’s contract was set to expire in the summer of 2024.

However, Gazetta dello Sport claims that Leao is set to re-sign with the Italian outfit. It is understood that the 23-year-old is ready to put pen to paper on a fresh five-year contract. This all despite flattering interest from Chelsea and Real Madrid.

Mudryk will be relieved that he won’t be facing even stiffer competition for a starting place at Chelsea after a less-than-impressive inaugural campaign. Since signing for the club in January for a fee of £88.5m he has struggled to build any momentum from his promising debut against Liverpool in the Premier League.

He is yet to score a single goal in 13 appearances across all competitions and still looks extremely raw. Considering the price paid for the youngster there were a lot of expectations for him to hit the ground running.

But as a result of his poor performances, he’s picked up his fair share of criticism. Arsenal icon Paul Merson told Sky Sports: “They brought Mykhailo Mudryk for £88m and, bar a cameo of 20 minutes, he’s shown nothing. I mean nothing. You wouldn’t expect to need time to settle in at that price.

“The forward-thinking players are no better than the ones they’ve already got so what’s the point? Why are you buying a load of players that aren’t better than what you’ve got? None of them improve the team bar Enzo Fernandez and the centre-half [Benoit Badiashile].”

Although most believe that he has potential and needs more time to develop. Ex-Chelsea defender William Gallas told Genting Casino: “Look at Mudryk! How many millions did he cost? As I said a few months ago, you need to give him time to settle and adapt to a new league and a new life but when you look at the chances that he has had to score, his finishing has not been of someone who cost that much money!

“There are so many problems at the club. The players are not performing. Most of them are not world-class players – Chelsea used to have a team full of world-class players. How many world-class players do they have? I would say two: N’Golo Kante and Thiago Silva.”