“For me he is quality, he is sharp, he’s strong, he will deliver” – Andriy Shevchenko star £88million star message to Mauricio Pochettino
Former Chelsea star Andriy Shevchenko has jumped to the defence of compatriot Mykhailo Mudryk after a difficult start to life at Stamford Bridge.
Mudryk joined from Shakhtar Donetsk in an £88.5 million January switch as Chelsea continued their wild spending spree under owner Todd Boehly.
The 22-year-old, who penned a huge eight-year contract, looked bright in his debut cameo against Liverpool but failed to score a single goal in 17 appearances in all competitions.
Chelsea’s instability led to them finishing in a lowly 12th place and many were quick to label Mudryk a flop.
But Shevchenko believes his fellow Ukrainian should be given time to prove his worth ahead of his first full season under new manager Mauricio Pochettino.
The 2004 Ballon d’Or winner offered some words of wisdom to Mudryk as he provided similar expert advice to kids aged 14-16 at the Gatorade 5v5 global finals in Istanbul as part of his role as a “confidence coach”.
“Mudryk is very young but I think he is quite confident,” Shevchenko told SPORTbible.
“I saw his interview and he knows his quality. Chelsea signed him for eight years, it’s a long-term contract and they believe in the quality of the player.
“In football if you have the opportunity you have to take it. I think he’s going to have plenty of opportunities but we’ll see how it goes.
“For me he is quality, he is sharp, he’s strong, he’s fast and you just have to adapt better for Premier League football.
“The best advice is to just believe in yourself. I think he has this quality. He knows he’s a good player. My best advice is just keep working hard and see what you can achieve.”
“It’s important, you can inspire some good talent,” Shevchenko added.