Mykhailo Mudryk doping ban poses £88m PSR headache for Chelsea – with Ukraine international facing the threat of Paul Pogba-esque four-year suspension

The Blues signed the Ukraine international winger from Shakhtar Donetsk in January 2023. He penned an eight-and-a-half-year contract at Stamford Bridge, allowing payments to be spread over a long period of time – helping the Blues to adhere with Financial Fair Play (FFP) and Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR).

Mudryk has, however, been provisionally suspended after failing a Premier League doping test. The 23-year-old maintains his innocence and is waiting on the results of a ‘B’ sample. If he is found guilty of taking a banned substance, then he could be stung with a ban similar to the four-year sanction that ex-Manchester United and Juventus midfielder Paul Pogba saw reduced to 18 months on appeal.

Any punishment for Mudryk will create difficulties for Chelsea, on and the off the field, with football finance expert Kieran Maguire telling talkSPORT: "There are two issues here, if he fails the drugs test and is subject to a four-year ban, which I believe to be the maximum, then what they will have to do is take a look at the existing value of his contract which he signed for £88m over eight years and they’re going to have to write it down to what they think they could sell the player for in four years time, or alternatively write off the whole contract.

"That would have significant implications as far as PSR is concerned, looking at the Premier League handbook there doesn’t appear to be any form of get out clause under these circumstances so he could be a very big hit for PSR."

Maguire went on to say of how Chelsea could avoid a serious financial hit, with the club’s case involving Adrian Mutu from 2005 – who tested positive for recreational drugs rather than performance-enhancing ones – setting some form of precedent: "There are a lot of outstanding issues. If the player is found guilty there will be what we sometimes refer to as a ‘badwill’ clause in the contract which says that if you conduct yourself in an unprofessional manner then that could constitute gross misconduct and therefore under those circumstances the club is entitled to rip up the contract and then seek some form of redress. If there is a gross misconduct clause in the contract and that is deemed to be part of a drugs misdemeanour, then the club will look at the small print and see what their options are.

"One option is to suspend the player, another is to terminate the contract, and under those circumstances would they be entitled to any compensation from the player himself? There was a huge investment and he has signed a very long contract. At the time I think there were a lot of observers who said this could really work for the club if the player goes on to improve and they’ve got an increasing value asset and they’re locked in for many years. The downside and risk is that you’re also locked in if things go wrong, so it really does come down to taking appropriate legal advice and I’m sure Chelsea will go down that route should the worst happen."

Mudryk has registered just 10 goals for Chelsea through 73 appearances, with only five of those efforts coming in the Premier League. He is now waiting to discover whether his entire professional career will be put on hold.