Mudryk likely to make Chelsea debut against Liverpool

Graham Potter confirmed Mykhaylo Mudryk is likely to make his Chelsea debut in Saturday’s Premier League clash with Liverpool.

The Blues splashed a reported £89million (€100m) to secure his services from Shakhtar Donetsk, beating London rivals Arsenal in the hunt for the Ukraine international.

Questions have been asked as to how Potter will fit Mudryk into a top-heavy squad at Stamford Bridge, where he joins the likes of Kai Havertz, Joao Felix, Christian Pulisic, Raheem Sterling and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

While that remains to be seen, Chelsea fans will have their first glimpse of Mudryk in action at Anfield as Potter confirmed he is set for his debut.

“He is a young and exciting player. We have to help him adapt to us and the Premier League. He hasn’t played so much football recently but has been training well, so we will have to assess him,” Potter said.

“There’s a chance [he could make his debut]. There is probably a role for him at some stage in the game.

“We’ve got to help him and everybody [must] understand that he is coming from a different country and league and has to adapt.

“He is a young player who has a lot of potential and at the same time he has had good experiences already and he is an exciting player.

“He’s trained very well and is very happy to be here. He is looking forward to his career here and is excited to get started.”

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— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) January 18, 2023

Chelsea’s work in the transfer market is seemingly not yet complete, with PSV winger Noni Madueke closing in on a move to west London, while Brighton and Hove Albion reportedly rejected a £55m bid from the Blues for midfielder Moises Caicedo.

Although it may seem there is no end in sight for Chelsea’s spending under Todd Boehly, Potter does not anticipate an influx of new additions at the backend of the mid-season transfer window.

“I don’t think there’ll be too many to be honest. I’ve no complaints about the squad. January is very complex. You might want A, B and C, but they are not available in terms of positional need,” he added.

“You are always looking to strengthen your squad and we have done that. When players come back, we have an exciting squad of players.

“You’ve got to analyse the squad and analyse where it’s at. Sometimes it is adding and sometimes it’s moving out players. That is on a case-by-case basis and we’ll look at it as and when.”