Shakhtar Donetsk CEO Serhiy Palkin hs revealed the warning he gave Chelsea prior to the club signing Ukranian forward Mykhailo Mudryk.
Mudryk, 22, completed a £61million move to Stamford Bridge in January but is yet to set the top flight of English football alight, with just one assist to his name across his first nine appearances in the division.
Although the transfer itself has been fairly underwhelming since his arrival, a portion of his struggles to settle in the league will be down to the poor form of his new team as a whole.
After parting ways with Graham Potter last week following the 2-0 loss to Aston Villa, Chelsea looked to club legend and former boss Frank Lampard to ignite a spark within the squad once more. However, were dealt another blow at the Molineux Stadium as Wolverhampton Wanderers secured all three points at home.
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Mudryk was limited to just 23 minutes of action on the afternoon, as frustrations across the fanbase continue to grow regarding the form of the team.
It is a teething period that his former CEO at Shakhtar Donetsk, Serhiy Palkin, warned the West London club about prior to completing the deal for the player. Speaking to Sky Sports, he said: "A week ago in England, I met Mykhailo Mudryk and he is very happy.
"He likes everything that is going on [there], he wants to work hard, he wants to show the best.
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"I said from the beginning, I spoke to the owners of Chelsea, and I told them you’ve got a real diamond but you should be very, very patient. Give this guy time and he will show you what he can bring to the club.
"I know 100 per cent he will participate [in winning] many, many trophies for Chelsea in the future. This is a very, very unique boy. A unique boy with unbelievable technical characteristics.
"I stayed at the club [Shakhtar] for 20 years. I have seen a lot of players. This one, from a professional point of view and how hard he works, I have never seen it in my life.’
Topics: Mykhailo Mudryk, Chelsea, Premier League, Football
Patrick Rowe