Mykhailo Mudryk has set a new benchmark for Premier League pace merchants on his Chelsea debut, becoming the fastest player in England so far this campaign.
The Ukrainian winger came on for the last 35 minutes of the goalless draw with Liverpool on Saturday afternoon and looked impressive on his first outing in English football.
The 22-year-old looked extremely fast and the numbers proved that as he clocked a top speed of 22.76mph, beating Everton’s Anthony Gordon’s high speed of 22.74pmh, that’s according to Opta.
The top five for pace this campaign in the Premier League is now completed by Darwin Nunez (22.68mph), Manchester City’s Erling Haaland (22.50) and Chelsea midfielder Denis Zakaria (22.42).
After being dumped out of the FA Cup in the third round by Man City, the Blues now have a break until their next Premier League game against Fulham on 3 February.
Mudryk will hope to be involved from the start in that game after his £88million move from Shakhtar Dontesk, but Chelsea manager Graham Potter concedes it will take a little time for him to settle in.
‘Mudryk hasn’t played since November so it would have been a risk to start him but he was very good coming on.
- Benfica respond to Chelsea’s attempt to revive Enzo Fernandez transfer
- Zinchenko’s offside decision for Arsenal winning goal explained after VAR complaints
- ‘Angry’ Erik ten Hag tells Man Utd stars ‘you’ll never win trophies’ after Arsenal loss
‘He’s only had two sessions with us and will get better the more he understands us and vice-versa. He can get supporters off their seats. His dribbling actions are high and knows where the goal is.
‘Our job is to help settling him into the country and the team. He and Joao Felix are top players.
‘Coaches don’t magically turn them into good players, it’s just about helping them fine-tune.’
