Chelsea are willing to sanction a season-long loan for Mykhailo Mudryk, with the club's French affiliate Strasbourg understood to be the frontrunner to take the 25-year-old attacker.
Mudryk had been handed a four-year ban in 2024 after adverse findings in an anti-doping test, having tested positive for meldonium. His suspension was cut short following a rule change that would have meant the same findings resulted in no ban at all had they occurred under the current framework. The Ukrainian international has not featured in a competitive match since November 2024, though he did appear in Chelsea's final three games of their pre-season tour, including a 1-0 defeat to Juventus in which he was handed the platform to demonstrate his fitness under Xabi Alonso.
Despite that reappearance, Mudryk is not expected to figure prominently in Alonso's plans for the season ahead. Former Manchester United chief scout Mick Brown told Football Insider on 3 August that Chelsea are ready to move him on loan, with Strasbourg the most likely landing spot. Chelsea have already sent Genesis Antwi and Filip Jorgensen to the French side and, under FIFA regulations permitting a maximum of three loanees from the same club at any one time, a move for Mudryk remains viable. New Chelsea signing Dastan Satpayev is also thought to be a candidate for a Strasbourg loan.
Alonso has been measured in his public comments on the situation. "No decision made [on Mudryk's future]," he said in a recent interview. "We need to assess, he is a special player but it is a special case so we need to be sensitive."
Coventry, freshly promoted to the Premier League, have also been credited with interest. Manager Frank Lampard worked closely with Mudryk during his second spell as interim manager at Stamford Bridge, and is said to regard the winger as a marquee potential addition. Coventry are listed among three top-flight clubs said to be pursuing a loan, though Strasbourg currently hold the advantage.
Lampard's side have already moved briskly in the transfer window, securing permanent deals for Frank Onyeka, Aurele Amenda, Loum Tchaouna, Caleb Yirenkyi and Carl Rushworth. Adding Mudryk would represent a significant further statement of intent for the newly-promoted club.
Even before his suspension, Mudryk had found life at Chelsea difficult, struggling for form and losing ground in the squad hierarchy despite arriving from Shakhtar Donetsk with a £62 million price tag. A loan away from west London would give him the opportunity to rebuild his match sharpness and rediscover the level that made him one of European football's most sought-after young attackers.
Reporting: CaughtOffside, TeamTalk, Football Insider.