- Mudryk excited to play alongside Jackson
- Scored in Chelsea's win over Brighton
- Failed to deliver for Chelsea last season
WHAT HAPPENED? The Ukrainian, who joined Chelsea in the January transfer window, failed to live up to expectations last season as he went 17 matches without scoring a goal following his big-money move to Stamford Bridge. Mudryk has now opened his account in Chelsea's 4-3 win over Brighton in a pre-season friendly, thanks to an assist from Nicolas Jackson and talked up his partnership with the new signing after the game.
WHAT THEY SAID: "Just imagine, this was our first game together. Just imagine [what we can do]," he told the Evening Standard.
Mudryk also had a response for his critics after a difficult start to life at Stamford Bridge. "[It was a] learning period," he added. "If people always expect so much from someone then it is his problem because he is [the one who is] expecting."
THE BIGGER PICTURE: Chelsea will be hoping Mudryk can start to pay off his hefty transfer fee in the new campaign. The forward also made it clear he was delighted to score in pre-season and can offer Chelsea fans a lot more than they have seen so far.
"It is not all my potential. It is only 20 per cent. I feel happy for all the work I put in to get this goal," he said. " I really enjoyed that one. When I took my shot, I didn’t think about anything [else]. I practised this stuff in training a lot — this came from training."
IN TWO PHOTOS:
WHAT NEXT? Mauricio Pochettino's team will next face Newcastle United on July 26 in Atlanta.