Eagle-eyed Chelsea fans spotted that winger Mykhailo Mudryk has three words written on his shin pads – but they may not be what you’d expect a Premier League player to have printed on his equipment.
Mudryk, 23, played in Chelsea’s 2-0 defeat away at Newcastle on Wednesday evening, which saw them eliminated from the Carabao Cup at the round of 16 stage.
Since arriving from Shakhtar Donetsk for a huge fee of £88.5m in January 2023.
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So far, during his time at the west London club, he has failed to live up to expectations, having registered just eight goals and nine assists in 69 appearances for the club.
However, despite his less-than-impressive performance at St James’ Park last night, the detailing on the Ukrainian’s shin pads was what really got fans talking, with the words "Can't, Can't, Can" printed on his pads.
If that wasn’t enough, he also has a photograph of a cat, which is presumably his pet on the other pad.
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Fans were quick to give their thoughts on social media, which may have lifted their spirits after Chelsea put in a poor performance on Tyneside.
One said: “The unintentionally funniest man of all time.”
A second added: “Always thought Misha was a cat person.”
With a third saying: “I love Mudryk.”
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So far during Enzo Maresca’s reign as Chelsea boss, Mudryk has had to settle for several appearances from the bench, but he did show glimpses of promise with a goal against Panathinaikos in the 4-1 Europa Conference League win on October 24.
The winger even revealed how he implemented Maresca’s advice during the game.
“The coach [Enzo Maresca] always says to me to go to the second post, and I did that, and that’s where I scored, so we shook hands after,” he told Chelsea.com after the game.
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Maresca had previously challenged his player to take the opportunities afforded to him and explained how they were working together to improve Mudryk.
“We’re working with him and all the wingers,” said Maresca.
“They need to arrive inside the box in the position where Misha scored. He’s struggled to arrive there, now he’s started to. That’s where we’re going to score goals.”
“We want the best for Misha [Mudryk], since day one, we’ve tried to help him,” he explained.
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“Probably, he’s one of the guys that the learning process is more slow compared to the rest.
“But he’s improving. I’m sure that slowly, slowly, we’re going to arrive where he will score more goals and to be more important for us.”
Topics: Chelsea, Mykhailo Mudryk, Premier League, Football
Luke Alfred Davies