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 faces a long-term ban.
Mudryk denied knowingly taking the drug, which is alleged to be performance-enhancing meldonium and was added to the World Anti-Doping Agency's banned list in 2016.
And he now faces a ban of up to four years in a shocking and devastating blow.
It's a tough fall for the highly-rated rising star who is at the center of a huge transfer battle between London's two biggest clubs.
Arsenal looked set to complete a £97million deal in January 2023 – and the player himself seemingly had his sights set on the Emirates – only for Chelsea to hijack the transfer at the final hour.
The Blues initially paid Shakhtar Donetsk £62m for the lightning-quick Mudryk, although add-ons could boost this figure to as much as £88m, leaving Ian Wright gutted.
And with his salary at Stamford Bridge reportedly £100,000 a week, the eight-and-a-half year contract he penned was worth a whopping £44million in wages.
However, despite the big money involved, Mudryk has failed to live up to the hype.
The keen darts player and table tennis ace showed flashes of brilliance when he made his debut against Liverpool but had failed to score a single goal for Chelsea at the end of the 2022-2023 season.
His dismal early stats even earned him the unfortunate nickname “007,” referring to zero goals and zero assists in his first seven games.
And his adjustment time was undoubtedly hampered by criticism within weeks of his arrival in the Premier League, when it emerged he had used the racist N-word in a TikTok video that was viewed more than 213,000 times.
Mudryk recited the lyrics to rapper Lil Baby's 2017 song Freestyle in the clip with a friend, but was criticized by fans and anti-racism group Kick It Out.
The footballer apologized profusely and deleted the message from his social media profile.
Mudryk finally found the net against Fulham in October 2023, but just a few weeks later then-boss Mauricio Pochettino outed his underperforming winger to the media.
Blunt Poch said: “He needs to improve. He's still not at his best.”
And it seems Chelsea fans haven't seen – and may never see – the best of Mykhailo Mudryk.
He finished with seven goals and two assists in 41 appearances in all competitions last season and has added three more in 15 so far this season – with each of those strikes coming in the Conference League – to take his overall Chelsea tally to ten bring in 73.
New manager Enzo Maresca clearly doesn't feel like it and grants him only one Premier League start.
And now it doesn't seem too coincidental that Mudryk missed the last four Chelsea games due to 'illness' before the news of his drug test failure.
On the international stage, Mudryk has been a key player for Ukraine in recent years, scoring the goal to send his war-torn country to the 2024 European Championship.
But his club career may have looked very different.
In the summer transfer window, just six months after arriving in England, Chelsea reportedly rejected offers for the wide man before Bayern Munich failed in a shocking last-ditch attempt to land Mudryk in January.
Now the West Londoners could face a legal minefield as they figure out what to do with their flop.
In theory, Mudryk could be suspended until 2029 if and when his suspension is upheld.
By the time he returns, he would only just turn 28 and have three years left on his top contract.
But what Mykhailo Mudryk's career will look like when that moment arrives is completely unclear.
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