Mudryk is a gamble!
Potter admits Chelsea have taken £88m punt
CHELSEA boss Graham Potter has conceded the club have taken an £88million gamble on Mykhailo Mudryk.
The 22-year-old Ukraine wide man is set to make his debut from the bench against liverpool at anfield today, and Potter has revealed Chelsea made an educated guess on whether their new man can justify his hefty price tag.
The londoners handed Mudryk an eight-and-a-half-year contract after gazumping arsenal to sign him from shakhtar Donetsk and Potter made no attempt to hide the fact that the player might turn out to be an expensive flop.
‘There is no guarantee anywhere,’ he said. ‘ No magic formula that says this is going to work. With every decision you have got to make the best educated guess that you can.
‘If you identify the right player and the right person there are huge upsides to it because you are developing and investing in him.
‘If things go well you have a fantastic asset, and the club is secure in terms of the contract length.
‘It is a direction the club wants to go down and obviously I am supporting that as best I can.’
Potter was confident he had signed a man who could add something to a squad that has already seen Joao Felix, Benoit Badiashile, David Datro Fofana and andrey santos brought in this month.
‘ he brings speed, he brings directness, he brings one-against- one ability to just eliminate an opponent,’ he said.
‘With all the noise around him you have to focus on helping him settle in, not put too much pressure on him.
‘It doesn’t matter how much the price tag says, it’s about how a human being goes from his country and his league to this country and this league, and help him understand about us as a club. If we do that well then he will be a huge success.’
Noni Madueke is set for a move to stamford Bridge as well, although Potter was unwilling to talk about the 20- year- old PsV eindhoven winger until the deal is finalised.
Chelsea will kick off at anfield in 10th place in the Premier league — one place below liverpool — with Potter repeatedly having to claim that the club’s american owners see his stewardship as a long-term project.
‘You have to build a team, a culture and an environment,’ he said. ‘We are on the right path. We are at the start of it but it’s exciting.’