Mykhailo Petrovych Mudryk (; born 5 January 2001) is a Ukrainian professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a winger for club Chelsea and the Ukraine national team. Mudryk is currently disqualified from football for alleged doping for 4 years. Mudryk began his career in the academies of Metalist Kharkiv and

Dnipro Dnipro is Ukraine's fourth-largest city, with about one million inhabitants. It is located in the eastern part of Ukraine, southeast of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on the Dnieper River, Dnipro River, from which it takes its name. Dnipro is t ...

, before moving to Shakhtar Donetsk in 2016. He made his professional debut two years later, followed by loans to Arsenal Kyiv and Desna Chernihiv. In 2023, he moved to English club Chelsea in a transfer worth an initial €70 million (£62 million), making him the most expensive Ukrainian footballer and the most expensive player signed from the

Ukrainian Premier League The Ukrainian Premier League ( ) or UPL is a professional association football league in Ukraine and the highest level of the Ukrainian football league system. Originally known as the Vyshcha Liha ( , ) it was formed in 1991 during the 1992 in ...

. Mudryk has been a Ukrainian senior international since 2022, having previously featured in several youth levels. He represented the side at

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. In December 2024, Mudryk failed a drug test for

Meldonium Meldonium (International Nonproprietary Name, INN; trade name Mildronate, among others) is a pharmaceutical developed in 1970 by Ivars Kalviņš at the USSR Latvia Institute of Organic Synthesis. It is now manufactured by the Latvian pharma ...

and was provisionally suspended from football.

Early and personal life

Mykhailo Mudryk was born on 5 January 2001 in Berestyn, Kharkiv Oblast. An Orthodox Christian, he frequently carries religious icons to matches and has spoken openly about the importance faith has to him, which was shown by his grandmother. Mudryk has several tattoos, but considers the one which reads "Only Jesus" as his most important. He is known as "Misha" to his friends and coaches.

Club career

Early career

Mudryk began playing football at Metalist Kharkiv in 2010, before moving to

's academy in 2014. After quickly rising through the age groups, Mudryk attracted the interest of Shakhtar Donetsk, and he signed for the club's academy in 2016.

Shakhtar Donetsk

2018–2021: Making senior debut

In the 2018–19 season, he played for Shakhtar in the under-21 category. Mudryk was promoted to the first team later that year, He made his first-team debut aged 17 on 31 October 2018 in a

Ukrainian Cup The Ukrainian Cup ( ) is an association football national knockout cup competition run by the Ukrainian Association of Football. The competition is conducted almost exclusively among professional clubs. Since the 2003–04 season, the Cup winner qu ...

match against Olimpik Donetsk, which Shakhtar won 1–0. After struggling to get playing minutes, he was loaned to

club Arsenal Kyiv in February 2019 for the remainder of the 2018–19 season, playing 10 matches without scoring any goals. He played in the Ukrainian Premier League against Desna Chernihiv,

Kolos Kovalivka FC Kolos Kovalivka () is a professional Ukrainian football club from the village of Kovalivka, Kyiv Oblast which competes in the Ukrainian Premier League, having been promoted from the Ukrainian First League on the 8 June 2019 for the first time ...

, and Oleksandriya giving the contribution to win the title in the 2019–20 season. In the summer of 2020, he signed a loan agreement with the Ukrainian Premier League club Desna Chernihiv and qualified for the UEFA Europa League third qualifying round. He stayed four months in Chernihiv and played 10 matches in the 2020–21 Ukrainian Premier League and once in the 2020–21 Ukrainian Cup.

2021–2023: Breakthrough

On 8 January 2021, Mudryk returned to Shakhtar, playing three matches in the 2020–21 Ukrainian Premier League and joining Shakhtar's reserve team, featuring sporadically for manager Luís Castro. In the 2021–22 season, Mudryk found more and more space as a starter, especially with the arrival of

Roberto De Zerbi Roberto De Zerbi (; born 6 June 1979) is an Italian professional football manager and former player, who is currently the head coach of Ligue 1 club Marseille. Playing career De Zerbi started his professional career at AC Milan. He spent four se ...

at the helm of Shakhtar, who had the reputation of trusting in young players. With his previous managers, failing to bring the best out of Mudryk, De Zerbi decided to recall him from his loan spell and requested a meeting with him. After the meeting, Mudryk developed a new mentality and his manager considered him one of the best young players, adding that "if I don't bring him to a high level, I will consider it a personal defeat". On 25 August 2021, Mudryk made his

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

debut against

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, replacing Manor Solomon in the 82nd minute in the play-off round of the tournament. His cross in the 114th minute, ricochet off Ruben Aguilar on the Monegasque net, as Shakhtar qualified to the tournament 3–2 on aggregate. On 18 September, he scored his first goal for the club in a 5–0 win against

Mariupol Mariupol is a city in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine. It is situated on the northern coast (Pryazovia) of the Sea of Azov, at the mouth of the Kalmius, Kalmius River. Prior to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, it was the tenth-largest city in the coun ...

at the Volodymyr Boyko Stadium. On 3 December, Mudryk provided four assists in a 6–1 win against

Lviv Lviv ( or ; ; ; see #Names and symbols, below for other names) is the largest city in western Ukraine, as well as the List of cities in Ukraine, fifth-largest city in Ukraine, with a population of It serves as the administrative centre of ...

. On 31 December, he agreed to a contract extension to 2026. He was named the club's Player of the Month for the months of November and December. On 24 February 2022, the Ukrainian Premier League was suspended due to the imposition of martial law in Ukraine due to the prelude to the Russian invasion of Ukraine and subsequent invasion by Russia. Mudryk finished the season with two goals and nine assists, being named the club's Player of the Year. With football resuming in Ukraine, Mudryk started the 2022–23 season by scoring his first Champions League goal and providing two assists in a 4–1 away win over

RB Leipzig RasenBallsport Leipzig e.V. (), commonly known as RB Leipzig or informally as Red Bull Leipzig, is a German professional association football, football club based in Leipzig, Saxony. The club was founded in 2009 by the initiative of the company ...

. This was followed by another goal in a 1–1 Champions League draw to

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. On 19 October, he scored twice in a 3–0 win over Kolos Kovalivka. His prolific form saw him score seven goals and provide six assists in 12 matches, being named the Ukrainian Footballer of the Year and Shakhtar's Player of the Year.

Chelsea

On 15 January 2023, Mudryk signed for

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

club Chelsea on an eight-and-a-half-year contract for an initial

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of €70 million (£62 million), potentially rising to €100 million (£89 million) in add-ons. This was the largest transfer fee received by Shakhtar and the Ukrainian Premier League, topping the previous record held by

Fred Fred or FRED may refer to: People * Fred (name), including a list of people and characters with the name Mononym * Fred (cartoonist) (1931–2013), pen name of Fred Othon Aristidès, French * Fred (footballer, born 1949) (1949–2022), Fred ...

, and made him the most expensive Ukrainian footballer. Mudryk's debut came on 21 January, as Chelsea drew 0–0 away to

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in a league match. His first start came against

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in a 0–0 draw on 4 February. On 2 October, Mudryk scored his first competitive goal for Chelsea on his 24th appearance, opening the scoring in a 2–0 Premier League win against Fulham. On 21 October, he scored his first goal at Stamford Bridge from a long range shot in a 2–2 draw against

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

. During an

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match against

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on 19 December 2023, Mudryk scored an equaliser in stoppage time to help his team to a 1–1 draw, which Chelsea would go on to win on penalties. On 5 June 2025, his number 10 shirt was given to

Cole Palmer Cole Jermaine Palmer (born 6 May 2002) is an English professional Association football, footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder or Winger (association football), winger for club Chelsea F.C., Chelsea and the England national football te ...

, meaning that Mudryk no longer has a designated squad number with Chelsea.

International career

From 2017 to 2018, Mudryk played for the Ukraine U17. From 2018 to 2019, he played for the Ukraine U19, Playing 12 matches and scoring five goals. In 2019, he made his debut for Ukraine U21, tallying 16 appearances and scoring three goals. On 7 September 2021, he scored the winning goal from free-kick against

Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...

. On 16 June 2023, Mudryk returned to Ukraine U21 squad for the

2023 UEFA European Under-21 Championship The 2023 UEFA European Under-21 Championship (also known as UEFA Under-21 Euro 2023) was the 24th edition of the UEFA European Under-21 Championship (27th edition if the Under-23 era is also included), the biennial international youth Association f ...

. He started in two matches and provided two assists in the tournament. In April 2022, Mudryk was called up for the Ukraine national team for a training camp in April–May 2022 in Slovenia. On 1 June, he debuted in the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifying playoff semi-finals, which Ukraine won 3–1 against

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. On 17 October 2023, Mudryk scored his first senior international goal in a 3–1

qualifying win against

Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...

. On 26 March 2024, he scored the winning goal of a 2–1 victory over

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in the qualifying play-off final to send Ukraine through to the official tournament.

Player profile

Reception

Wesley Fofana, his teammate at Chelsea, claimed that Mudryk is faster than Kylian Mbappe and probably the fastest player he has played against. Ben Chilwell was cautious in his praise stating, "With Mudryk, I see endless bags of potential that hasn't been fulfilled yet". In reference to his poor on-field performances for Chelsea, some fans nicknamed him "Ukraine Bolt" (a

word play Word play or wordplay (also: play-on-words) is a literary technique and a form of wit in which words used become the main subject of the work, primarily for the purpose of intended effect or amusement. Examples of word play include puns, ph ...

referencing

Usain Bolt Usain St. Leo Bolt (; born 21 August 1986) is a Jamaican retired sprinter who is widely regarded as the greatest sprinter of all time. He is an eight-time Olympic gold medalist and the world record holder in the 100 metres, 200 metres, ...

), suggesting that his pace is his only forte.

Controversy

On 17 December 2024, it was reported that The FA provisionally suspended Mudryk after testing positive for doping. On 18 June 2025, the FA charged him with violating anti-doping rules.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Ukraine's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Mudryk goal''

Honours

Shakhtar Donetsk *

: 2019–20, 2022–23 *

: 2018–19 * Ukrainian Super Cup:

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

Chelsea *

UEFA Conference League The UEFA Conference League (UECL), usually known simply as the Conference League, is an annual football competition organised since 2021 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It is the thir ...

: 2024–25 *

runner-up: 2023–24 Individual * Ukrainian Footballer of the Year: 2022 *Shakhtar Donetsk Player of the Year: 2021, 2022 * Golden talent of Ukraine: 2021 (U21), 2022 (U21)

References

External links

Profile
at the Chelsea F.C. website * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mudryk, Mykhailo 2001 births Living people People from Krasnohrad Footballers from Kharkiv Oblast Ukrainian men's footballers Men's association football wingers FC Shakhtar Donetsk players FC Arsenal Kyiv players FC Desna Chernihiv players Chelsea F.C. players Ukrainian Premier League players Premier League players UEFA Conference League–winning players UEFA Euro 2024 players Ukraine men's youth international footballers 21st-century Ukrainian sportsmen Ukraine men's under-21 international footballers Ukraine men's international footballers Doping cases in association football Ukrainian sportspeople in doping cases Ukrainian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in England Ukrainian expatriate sportspeople in England