Alonso welcomes Mykhailo Mudryk Chelsea return after doping ban

Ukraine’s forward #07 Mykhailo Mudryk controls the ball during the UEFA Nations League football match between Georgia and Ukraine in Batumi on November 16, 2024. (Photo by Giorgi ARJEVANIDZE / AFP)

Mykhailo Mudryk will be welcomed with open arms when he rejoins Chelsea this week in Hong Kong, manager Xabi Alonso said, but the Ukrainian will not be rushed back after winning his appeal against a doping ban.

The Ukraine international winger was suspended for four years after failing a 2024 drug test that revealed the presence of a low concentration of meldonium, a prohibited substance.

He was cleared on Friday to resume his career after the Football Association and the World Anti-Doping Agency “resolved his appeal.”

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“We are happy, especially for him, because we are not able to understand what he has been through in this time and how he feels at the moment,” Alonso said in Sydney.

“We want that he feels part of the team, because he has not had this for a long time, and that he has the support from everyone: from the club, from the teammates, from the staff.

“To be honest, we were not expecting to have this great news at this moment, so we are very happy learning that he will be here with us.”

Mudryk will join Chelsea for the next leg of their pre-season tour in Hong Kong where they face Juventus on Wednesday, Alonso said, after a 2-1 defeat to London rivals Tottenham in Sydney on Saturday.

But the Spaniard cautioned that Mudryk’s reintegration would be a slow process.

The 25-year-old, who joined Chelsea from Shakhtar Donetsk for £62 million ($83 million) in 2023, has not played since November 2024.

READ: Croatian football player doping ban doubled to 4 years

“It will take time,” Alonso said. “But once there’s a change, things will start moving, and for him, it’s a massive change (from) training on his own every day.

“I think that had to be really, really hard because he wanted to play football, he wanted to be part of the team, and he was not allowed to do that for such a long time.

“So once this meeting has happened, now we can move on and after we will see if he makes progress quicker or slower. But we need to do the work.”

Tottenham boss Roberto De Zerbi managed Mudryk at Ukrainian club Shakhtar Donetsk and was also happy to see him back.

“He’s my son, he’s a cool guy, a top player, hopefully he can show what he suffered the last two seasons in this coming season, maybe not against Tottenham, but he’s a lovely guy,” said the Italian.

Mudryk filed his appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport and changes to WADA procedures in the interim meant that had his failed test produced the same result now, charges would not have been brought.