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With not many days left for the 2026/27 Premier League to commence, Chelsea FC winger Mykhailo Mudryk has well and truly re-launched his comeback. With his anti-doping ban now reduced, when the development first emerged in December 2024 following an adverse analytical finding, Mudryk has relaunched his career against Juventus, albeit ending in a 1-0 result.
“It was emotional for everyone from the club to see him back” – Xabi Alonso on Mykhailo Mudryk
The 25-year-old came off the bench in Chelsea’s pre-season Tour clash with Juventus in Hong Kong, his first action since being told of an adverse analytical finding in December 2024.
“I’m really pleased for him. It was emotional for everyone from the club to see him back, When I told him before the game he could play 10 or 15 minutes, he was thrilled for sure. It was after such a long period (that he couldn’t play with the team), so it was a great feeling for him and for everyone else,” Chelsea manager Xavi Alonso said after the 1-0 defeat.
Mudryk joined Chelsea from Shakhtar Donetsk in 2023 for an initial fee of 62 million pounds ($78.72 million) but his career looked in peril when hit with a four-year ban by the English Football Association for testing positive for the banned substance meldonium. He always insisted he had never knowingly or intentionally taken a banned substance and was cleared to resume playing on Friday after the FA concluded disciplinary proceedings in agreement with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).
Before Wednesday’s game, Alonso said ‘no decision’ had been made about Mudryk’s future at Chelsea. Following the match he said it had been important to get Mudryk back on the pitch.
“It was more than a football decision. It was a human decision and emotional decision to give him this boost, to feel the great support that he got and the great reception when he came on the pitch,” the Spaniard said.
After last week’s hearing the FA noted that Mudryk would not have returned an adverse finding under WADA’s current technical document, due to changes made after he had tested positive.
“If Mr Mudryk’s sample was collected today, the concentration of meldonium in the sample would not have been reported and no ADRVs would have resulted,” the FA said.
Chelsea will open their Premier League campaign against Fulham on August 25 but they have two more friendlies against Milan and Johor Darul Ta’zim.
(With inputs from Reuters)
