Earlier this week we reported on Mykhailo Mudryk's appeal waiting game. Now the update is different: Chelsea have confirmed he is eligible to play again with immediate effect after the FA and WADA resolved the appeal proceedings, but Xabi Alonso is already telling the club to be patient.

Alonso's message is simple enough. Mudryk is back in the pool, but that does not mean he is ready to jump straight into Premier League football.

Alonso's warning on Mudryk

"I remember watching him at Shakhtar, the impact he had, how quick he is, how good he is in one-vs-one situations, how he could create a lot of situations on his own. He's a special player. But it will take time, for sure," Alonso told metro.co.uk.

He was even clearer about the work ahead. "It will take time, once things have changed, things will start moving. For him it’s a massive change, he's been training on his own every day, it must have been really, really hard because he wanted to play football, to be part of a team, and he was not allowed to do that for such a long time."

That fits the picture Chelsea are dealing with. Mudryk's last Chelsea appearance came in November 2024, and NBC Sports says his most recent outing was a Conference League game in which he scored in a 2-0 win over Heidenheim. He has not been playing regular team football, so the first job is obvious: rebuild rhythm, then judge the level.

The return Chelsea actually have

The positive note for Chelsea is that Mudryk has shown he can still produce when he is available and settled. In the 2024-25 Conference League, he recorded 3 goals and 3 assists in 4 games, and his five-match sample includes two 7.7+ performances, peaking at 8.3 against Noah.

His wider Chelsea record is more mixed. Mudryk has 10 goals and 11 assists in 73 appearances across all competitions, and his Premier League return for the club stands at 5 goals and 6 assists in 53 matches. That is a decent enough reminder that the talent is real, but the consistency has not been.

The sensible reading is that Alonso is right to slow the conversation down. Chelsea have a player back, but they do not have a fully reconditioned starter back yet.

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