“He’ll be a superstar” – Director says Tottenham have secured coup thanks to RDZ

Shakhtar Donetsk sporting director Darijo Srna has urged Tottenham Hotspur‘s Mykhailo Mudryk to find the right balance to showcase his qualities. 

The official has been speaking about the winger and Sport.ua in Ukraine have relayed his comments.

Tottenham opened door for Mudryk 

The 25-year-old spent over 18 months away from the pitch for a doping ban and was only cleared to return to play in July.

However, Xabi Alonso left him out of his core plans at Chelsea this season. On deadline day, the north London club signed him on loan with an option to buy.

The loan move saw the Ukraine international reunite with Roberto De Zerbi at Tottenham Hotspur. He previously played under the manager at Shakhtar Donetsk, with two goals and nine assists from 19 matches.

Mykhailo Mudryk joined Shakhtar Donetsk’s academy in 2016 and made his way into their first team in 2018. He didn’t enjoy regular game time and had loan spells at Arsenal Kyiv and Desna Chernihiv between 2019 and 2021.

De Zerbi key for Tottenham summer signing 

The manager joined the Ukrainian club in July 2021. Darijo Srna reveals he immediately wanted to have Mykhailo Mudryk at his disposal.

“When you look at Mudryk, he has more qualities than everyone else put together. But some of Shakhtar’s coaches were focusing on today rather than tomorrow, saying he doesn’t drop back on defence, or he loses the ball, or something else. But I fell in love with Mudryk right away,” he said.

“We were sitting at the Opera, talking with De Zerbi. He pointed out to me, ‘Where is this player? At Desna. He’ll be my star player. Call him.’ That was my first meeting with De Zerbi. I called him, and he said, ‘Misha, if I become Shakhtar’s coach, you’ll be my star player’.”

In January 2023, Shakhtar Donetsk sold him to Chelsea for a reported fee of €70m plus bonuses. The attacker didn’t settle in at Stamford Bridge, and the director blames constant managerial changes for that.

“Then, unfortunately, he joined Chelsea… They changed the coach, changed the system. In short, chaos. And, unfortunately, what happened, happened, but he managed to get out of that situation. We stayed in touch the whole time,” Srna explained.

What is needed now

Last weekend, Mykhailo Mudryk made his Tottenham Hotspur debut in their goalless draw against Nottingham Forest.

Darijo Srna has sent a message to his former player to fix a major problem so that he can showcase his qualities at Spurs.

“Misha has one big problem: he trains too much. He’d stay after our practice for another two hours, working on his shots on goal,” he added.

“He’s a great kid, but he needs to think about the game, too. It’s the right thing to do, but he needs to find a balance. He used to stay late at Chelsea, too. I’m sure he has a bright future ahead of him. He’ll be a superstar.”