‘Mykhailo Mudryk is first casualty of Chelsea’s shock transfer plan’
Chelsea have suffered a major blow as a result of their ownership strategy and could now be thrust into the middle of a legal battle.
Since Todd Boehly and BlueCo acquired the club in May 2022, they have been handing out lucrative long-term deals to tie players down for many years to come.
One of those on a monster contract is Mykhailo Mudryk, who is now facing serious punishment for a doping violation – with the winger on a deal running until 2031.
The 24-year-old has been unable to play since the beginning of December following his suspension – and after being charged by the FA last week (18 June), could be hit with a ban of up to four years.
Everton’s former chief Keith Wyness – who served as CEO at Goodison Park between 2004 and 2009 and now runs a football consultancy advising elite clubs – believes that the situation could have big ramifications on Chelsea’s strategy.
Chelsea in Mudryk escape battle as lawyers scrutinise the small print
Speaking on the new edition of Football Insider’s Inside Track podcast, Wyness insisted that it is now a legal issue, and that Mudryk is the first “casualty” of the long-term contract strategy.
The Ukraine international was signed in January 2023, and is currently two and a half years into a bumper eight-and-a-half-year deal at Stamford Bridge.
Wyness added that he hopes Chelsea have the right lawyers in place – to ensure they don’t have to pay the remaining six years on Mudryk’s contract.
He told Football Insider‘s Inside Track podcast: “Of course it is concerning. “I don’t know if it’ll end up being four years. We’ve still got to hear his defence and hear the whole issue.
“It’s a difficult one with these sorts of things, but normally, with past experience, they don’t end well for the player. With (Adrian) Mutu at Chelsea, we saw before that it was a big issue.
“It’ll be a legal situation now as to how they get out of the contract, and as we’ve discussed before, this is probably the first casualty of the new Chelsea ownership’s ‘buy young, with big money and long-term contracts’ strategy.
“I hope they had the right lawyers putting those contracts in place because this will be the first test of it, as to whether they can offload those wages quickly.”
Chelsea to sign another striker
Meanwhile, Football Insider has exclusively revealed (24 June) that Chelsea are definitely expected to sign another forward this summer with Christopher Nkunku set to leave the club.
Nkunku has been linked with Man United in recent days and the Blues are ready to facilitate his exit in a move which would free up space for a new out-and-out striker.
Randal Kolo Muani, currently on loan at Juventus but still under contract at Paris Saint-Germain, has emerged as a concrete target for the Stamford Bridge club.
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