It seems a lifetime ago that we had the on-off saga involving Mykhaylo Mudryk and Arsenal before he eventually wound up at Chelsea.
Mudryk landed at Chelsea despite everything being more or less agreed between himself and Arsenal.
Of course, we can look back now as it being a bit of a lucky escape, with Mudryk struggling massively at Chelsea and currently serving a ban for banned substances.
Still, he remains a topic of conversation in his homeland and according to Shakthar legend Dario Srna, Mudryk was very much a player Arsenal wanted.
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Dario Srna says why Mykhaylo Mudryk has been misunderstood
Mudryk has struggled and in a way, gone off the rails a bit. There is simply no denying it.
However, sometimes the environment you’re in can play a big part and when he got to Chelsea, they were nowhere near a settled club.
Indeed, according to Srna, that’s exactly why Mudryk has struggled as he defended his talent and price tag.
“A lot of people say he wasn’t worth that kind of money, it’s not true. Why did they pay for him that kind of money? Why did Arsenal want him? Why did all of Europe want him,” Srna commented.
“The problem was that he arrived in a very difficult moment in Chelsea, one of the more difficult in the last 25 years of Chelsea, he suffered like the whole team, when someone pays £70m for you, they expect a miracle.
“Football is not like this, you can find lots of examples, Isak to Liverpool, Grealish, I can find a lot, he’s still a young guy.”
Mudryk must be wondering why he chose Chelsea
There are often sliding doors moments in life and in football and you have to say Mykhaylo Mudryk has had his.
Choosing Chelsea might have seemed a smart decision at the time. He got a long contract, big money, and the chance to join a new project where young players were very much the talk of the town.
However, when you now look back, moving to Arsenal could have been a game-changer for the Ukrainian.
Mudryk would have walked into a team and club on the up, with a manager in Mikel Arteta who would have brought stability and top level coaching to the young winger.
Ultimately, you live and die by your decisions and Mudryk made the wrong one. He’ll need to reset when he is eventually back involved and the likelihood is that reset comes away from London.
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