Xabi Alonso has just completed his post-match press conference following Chelsea's 2-1 defeat to Tottenham in the Sydney Super Cup.
The FA has ended its anti-doping proceedings after Mudryk accepted breaching anti-doping rules and agreed to a suspension equal to the one year and eight months already served. Then, at the end of July, the four-year ban was lifted, making Mudryk, whom Chelsea signed from Shakhtar Donetsk for an initial £62m, plus a further £27m in bonuses, in January 2023, available for selection again. Mudryk has not been able to train at Chelsea's training ground or work with club staff. Instead, he hired his own private coach and goalkeepers, and conducted training sessions at non-league side Uxbridge.
Speaking to reporters at the Accor Stadium in Sydney, Australia, on Saturday, following a 2-1 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur, Alonso described the winger as a 'special' player, but downplayed expectations about any immediate involvement on the pitch. ‘To be honest, we were not expecting to have this great news at this moment, so we are very happy,’ Alonso said after losing a pre-season friendly, 2-1 to Tottenham, in Sydney, Australia. Alonso added: "It's too early to tell how he is in terms of fitness, in terms of the game time you need to be involved again, so it's still too early to tell. "But we are happy for him, especially for him, because we are probably not able to understand what he has been through during this time and how he feels at the moment with the things he has had to cope with."