Mykhailo Mudryk scored his first goal of the season on Friday night(Image: Marc Atkins/Getty Images)

Mykhailo Mudryk fires last-ditch Chelsea message as shock £52m January transfer exit stance taken

Chelsea news with the latest headlines at Stamford Bridge including a goal from Mykhailo Mudryk and advice for Christopher Nkunku

12 Oct 2024, 03:00 by Tom Coley · football.london

It's all gone quiet at Chelsea. A period of wins followed by a fiesty (and frustrating) draw, brought the second international break around quickly for Enzo Maresca, but there has been little of note to speak of since.

The bulk of his players have gone away with their countries, spread across the world. There is still a large cohort at Cobham training, as well as some of the most talented youngsters to make up the numbers, but on the whole it has been a period of rest.

During the last international break it emerged that the club's owners were squabbling over who got to run things (effectively). This time it has been relative bliss.

That will all change soon enough for Maresca as the hustle and bustle of day-to-day activities returns soon enough. Here, football.london has the latest news from around the club.

Mudryk message

Mykhailo Mudryk scored his first goal of the season as he ensured Ukraine beat Georgia 1-0 on Friday. It's his third for the national team in total and his second of 2024 after lasting scoring in March.

He has been unable to make the same impact for Chelsea so far but picked up where he left off against Nottingham Forest. A bright cameo from the bench last weekend was the sharpest he had looked for some time.

Any confidence taken from that game appeared to pay off. Against Georgia, and new Liverpool goalkeeper Georgi Mamardashvili, Mudryk picked up on the ball on the left but misplaced his pass inside. He shrugged that off, winning the ball back and then driving towards goal.

Cutting onto his right foot, Mudryk shot low into Mamardashvili's near post. With three assists for Chelsea, Mudryk will be aiming to take an improvement in performance into training under Maresca to get a regular spot.

This all comes after Fabrizio Romano was drawn to clarify his position at Chelsea. After a summer of suggestions he could leave the club on loan to get more minutes, the transfer expert explained that there are no plans in place for him to head out in January, and that he is working to improve.

football.london says: This is a well-timed goal for Mudryk. It was at Anfield in February 2023 that he made his Chelsea debut as a late substitute, offering a glimpse of the raw materials the club signed for £62million (which could rise to over £80million if add-ons are met).

He will be hopeful of taking some of that spirit and energy to Merseyside when Chelsea travel there next. Although it is extremely unlikely that he starts the game, a Mudryk running at full speed and with more control than usual would be quite the weapon to have.

There are still questions as to how best to unleash the talent he certainly has. For now, finding him in any sort of good form would be a step in the right direction after a largely miserable time in London.

Nkunku advice

Christopher Nkunku has been told to leave Chelsea this season in order to get regular Premier League football. Having only made one Premier League start so far this season, he is still outside of Maresca's 'A-team' for weekend action.

With Nicolas Jackson preferred upfront so far, and Cole Palmer bossing things in the middle, it has been a frustrating start to the campaign for Nkunku. Despite his lack of starts, he still has eight goals for club and country.

Nkunku scored his first goal for France on Thursday, adding to strikes in the Conference League and Carabao Cup to date. As one of the most impressive forwards across Europe in the past few years, the lack of Premier League football was not part of his plan.

Now, according to Dean Saunders, he needs to move on. “It probably isn’t realistic for [Aston] Villa to sign Curtis Jones or Harvey Elliott but I was trying to give an example," he told Bonus Code Bets. I’m looking at clubs who have really good players who aren’t getting a game.

“Chelsea, I’ve lost count of how many players they’ve got but they can’t all get in the team. They’re not only the best players in the country they’re from but they’re treated like the best ever from that country. They’ve also been the best players at the clubs they were at.

“They find it really difficult to sit on the bench for five or six games and not get a game. I’ve been a manager and this is where you start getting issues. At the moment, Nkunku knows no matter what I do, I’m not going to start in front of Jackson. With seven games in, I can’t see a future at the club. You probably can get a deal out of Chelsea right now."

He continued: “It cropped up when they played in the League Cup [against Barrow]. Nkunku scored a hat-trick. The manager left Nicolas Jackson out of the team, he rested him and then he put Nkunku in who scored three. Then when Chelsea play on Sunday against Brighton, he has to call Nkunku in and say ‘I’m sorry, I’m leaving you out, I’m putting Nicolas Jackson back in.'

“At that moment, Nkunku knows no matter what I do, I’m not going to start in front of Jackson. With six games in, I can’t see a future at the club. As long as the manager keeps winning games, he’s got a bit of power. But if you lose two or three, players in that Chelsea dressing room all start getting a voice. That’s when they turn against you and that’s the problem when you have too many players.

“So, going back to your point, I’m sure there’s players at Chelsea that you could slide off of that. Arsenal are only paying a third of Raheem Sterling’s wages with Chelsea paying the rest. You probably can get a deal out of Chelsea right now.”

football.london says: There is a conversation to be had regarding Nkunku. It's not over whether he should be sold or not, that's for sure.

Maresca will need to get Nkunku more game time in the league. He can't keep on using him late on in games as a way out. At some stage he needs to start, and ideally it won't simply be ahead of Jackson.

Nkunku is at his best when he's around players. In Palmer, Jackson, and Nkunku, there would be three of the best link-players in the world. Putting them together is the best way towards building a relationship. The issue is, someone has to be dropped.

The most likely name right now is Noni Madueke- although he did score against Nottingham Forest. Given Palmer can play off the right, drift inside, and be supported by the more naturally wide and attacking full-back presence of Malo Gusto, bringing in Nkunku for Madueke works on paper.

This will need translating onto the pitch sooner rather than later though because Nkunku didn't sign for £52million to be a reserve option. A transfer can be ruled out though, Saunders can keep dreaming.

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