Chelsea's £88m transfer mistake laid bare as Blues count cost of 'unsellable' star

It's been two years of huge change at Chelsea since Roman Abramovich was forced to sell the club, with Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital completing a takeover at the end of May 2022.

One of the perhaps unexpected developments was the massive turnover in playing staff, with the Blues signing 17 players in the first season alone. Among those were the likes of Enzo Fernandez, for whom they broke the Premier League transfer record with a £107million signing.

While there have been some successful additions in the long list of players to have joined the club since Boehly's arrival, there are big question marks over others, with Mykhailo Mudryk in particular not living up to expectations so far.

The Blues beat Arsenal to the signing of the 23-year-old in what appeared a coup at the time, though afterwards the Gunners moved for Leandro Trossard, who has outshone Mudryk since then.

The Ukraine international has only scored seven goals in all competitions for Chelsea, with his £88million transfer fee perhaps proving something of a millstone for the player and the club.

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It would be difficult to argue that Mudryk has so far met expectations in west London. Former Chelsea star Frank Lebouef has not held back with his criticisms of the deal, stating that the attacker is currently "unsellable" and is a "lost cause" for the Premier League side.

Lebeouf was speaking to BoyleSports, who offer the latest Euro 2024 betting, and stated: "Mudryk has no value anymore - he’s a lost cause and Chelsea won’t make any money on him.

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"Mudryk is so raw and he’s not getting better under many managers - there’s no improvement.

"Who would want to buy Mudryk? I wouldn’t even buy him for 10 million at the moment. In fact, I wouldn’t even buy him for £1million. Why would you want to spend money on a player who is not in any way productive?

"He’s been here 18 months and I know it’s been difficult for him given his circumstances at home in Ukraine, but judging from what I’ve seen, I really worry that Chelsea have signed a dud in Mudryk and they must replace him.

"I was bought for £2million in 1996 and I thought that was a lot! Mudryk was bought for £70m or something - it’s insane!"