Earlier this week we reported on Mykhailo Mudryk's appeal and the wait around his case. Now Chelsea have a more practical problem on their hands, because the anti-doping proceedings against him have been resolved with the agreement of WADA on 30 July 2026. He is no longer ineligible, but the club are not talking about an instant restart.

Chelsea's cautious plan for Mudryk

Mudryk had not played a match since November 2024, and Xabi Alonso has been clear that the football side of the comeback is still a work in progress. "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," he said.

That caution fits the rest of Chelsea's message. Alonso also said, "He trained on his own every day, and I think it had to be really, really hard because he wanted to play football, he wanted to be part of a team, and he was not allowed to do that for such a long time." The club expect him to join the pre-season tour in Hong Kong after first needing time to rebuild fitness.

The squad he is coming back into

Chelsea finished 10th in the 2025 Premier League, and they are 6th in the 2026 standings, so Mudryk is returning to a very different setup from the one he left. The winger is not being asked to save anything on day one. He is being brought back into a squad that has already moved on and added more depth on the wings.

Alonso has also backed the idea that the player still has something to offer, while sounding realistic about the timeline. "I remember watching him at Shakhtar, the impact he had, how quick he was, how good he was in one-on-one situations and how he could create a lot of situations on his own. He's a special player, but he will need time, for sure," he said.

That is the sensible view. Chelsea have the registration issue resolved, but the football problem is only beginning. Mudryk's next step is not a first-team start, it is getting through the Hong Kong tour and back into proper training rhythm.

Written by Jack Mercer with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 2 outlets. How we work →