Mykhailo Mudryk has already made a summer sacrifice for Enzo Maresca and Chelsea

Mykhailo Mudryk was present at Chelsea’s Cobham base on Monday as Enzo Maresca took training for the very first time. Appointed in the Stamford Bridge hotseat at the beginning of June, the Italian has had to wait just over a month to work with his players after making the move from Leicester City.

Having the vast majority of his Chelsea squad available to him, including players such as Wesley Fofana and Romeo Lavia who spent virtually all of last season out injured, Maresca was only without a handful of players due to international commitments. Cole Palmer and Conor Gallagher are still away at Euro 2024 with England after their semi-final qualification and the same goes for Spain ace Marc Cucurella.

For Mudryk, Ukraine exited at the group stage of the competition after finishing bottom of Group E. However, they were extremely unfortunate to go out as all four teams in their group finished on four points.

At a time when players who have since exited the Euros are currently enjoying a summer break before making their return to pre-season training for their respective clubs, Mudryk is already putting in the hard work at Chelsea’s training base. Players tend to usually have around three weeks off once their participation at a summer tournament has come to an end but it appears that Mudryk has sacrificed his summer break and instead prioritised his club football.

In the video footage and photos released by Chelsea on Monday, Mudryk could be seen in the gym as the players underwent medical and physical tests before they eventually made their way outside to train with Maresca for the first time. Chelsea fans were quick to highlight Maresca’s decision to return for the first day of pre-season training, with his last game for Ukraine at Euro 2024 only coming 12 days earlier.

It is certainly a decision that should be commended and one that could possibly bode well for the season ahead when it comes to Mudryk making a big impact for his new head coach. Signed from Shakhtar Donetsk in January 2023 for an initial £62million that could rise to £88.5million in potential add-ons, the 23-year-old has shown glimpses of his quality in a Chelsea shirt but he has so far struggled to do it a consistent basis for the Blues and certainly not provided value for money.

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Contributing seven goals and two assists in his 41 games in all competitions last term, Mudryk should only be better for his first full season in the Premier League and that will hopefully stand him in good stead for the upcoming campaign. Maresca did get plenty of joy from the wide players in his Leicester City team and that could indeed turn out to be the case at Chelsea once they have fully taken on his football philosophy.

Abdul Fatawu and Stephy Mavididi were pivotal in Leicester’s promotion push as they chipped in with goals and assists aplenty. Fatawu registered seven goals and 13 assists in his debut season in England and Mavididi also proved to be a revelation in his first year for the Foxes with 13 goals and six assists.

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Maresca will certainly know all about what exactly Mudryk can offer and the challenge he now faces is extracting the very best out of him in a Chelsea shirt. The pair did share a moment together at the end of training on Monday at a time when the rest of the squad appeared to be heading inside.

Both Maresca and Mudryk appeared to be deep in conversation and it was once again something Chelsea fans picked up on. Supporters are desperate to see the Ukrainian star in the Chelsea first team and it could be Maresca who possibly makes that a reality in 2024/25 and beyond.