Inside the spiralling career of Mykhailo Mudryk, from Arsenal and Chelsea transfer tussle to doping scandal
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MYKHAILO MUDRYK’S Chelsea career went from bad to worse with news of his failed drugs test. The Ukrainian winger, 23, tested positive for a banned substance in October and is set for a lengthy ban. Mudryk denied knowingly taking the drug - alleged to be performance-enhancing meldonium, which was added to the World Anti-Doping Agency banned list in 2016.
![[Mykhailo Mudryk arrived for £88m amid much fanfare in January 2023]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/7c46b42d-2a4b-4066-b908-2b1a7ce27ca3.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
And he could now face a suspension of up to four years in a shock and devastating blow. It is a stark fall for the highly-rated rising star at the centre of an almighty transfer tussle between London’s two biggest clubs. Arsenal looked set to complete a £97million deal in January 2023 - and the player himself seemingly had his heart set on the Emirates - only for Chelsea to hijack the transfer at the final hour.
![[He failed a drugs test in the latest twist in his struggling Blues career]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/mykhaylo-mudryk-chelsea-seen-uefa-958065192_26ea92.jpg?strip=all&w=640)
The Blues paid an initial £62m to Shakhtar Donetsk for lightning-quick Mudryk, although add-ons could take it up to a whopping £88m, leaving Ian Wright gutted. And with his salary at Stamford Bridge a reported £100,000 per week, the eight-and-a-half-year contract he put pen to paper on was worth a staggering £44m in wages.
Despite the big money involved, though, Mudryk has failed to live up to the hype. The keen darts and table tennis ace showed flashes of brilliance when he came on against Liverpool for his debut but had failed to score a single goal for Chelsea by the end of the 2022-23 season.
![[Mudryk has struggled to win over new boss Enzo Maresca]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/enzo-maresca-manager-chelsea-speaks-953713768.jpg?strip=all&w=697)
