Tottenham Enter Crowded Mudryk Race

Tottenham have put in a loan offer for Mykhailo Mudryk, and talks with Chelsea are now underway. The winger himself seems keen on the move too.

Roberto De Zerbi's history with Mudryk explains why Spurs suddenly got involved. The two worked together at Shakhtar Donetsk, and De Zerbi has never hidden how much he rates him. "He's my son, he's a cool guy, a top player," De Zerbi said recently, praising how Mudryk handled a rough couple of years.

Rough is putting it mildly. Mudryk hasn't played a competitive match since November 2024, sidelined after testing positive for meldonium and getting hit with a doping ban. That ban has since been resolved, and he was cleared to return on July 31. Now half the Premier League wants a piece of him.

Leeds tried first. Almost two weeks of talks got them nowhere. Chelsea knocked back their opening proposal, and things stalled from there over structural disagreements. Brentford came in too, pushing for priority rights on a future permanent deal, but Chelsea wouldn't budge on that either.

Sunderland and Coventry have also weighed up a move, according to recent reports, though neither has gained much traction. Tottenham's interest looks a fair bit more advanced by comparison.

One thing working in Spurs' favor: Mudryk wants to stay in the Premier League. That narrows his options fast, and it puts Tottenham ahead of anyone offering a move abroad. Chelsea, for their part, seem increasingly open to letting him go on loan before the window closes.

Money-wise, it's a messy picture. His original fee sat somewhere between £61 million and £88 million with add-ons, but the return hasn't matched it. Across 73 appearances for Chelsea, he's managed just 10 goals and 11 assists.

Gakpo Domino Could Decide Everything

There's a catch, though. Gakpo is still Tottenham's real priority up front this summer. Mudryk is very much the backup plan.

If Spurs land Cody Gakpo from Liverpool, their interest in Mudryk probably disappears overnight. So really, this whole situation comes down to how Liverpool respond if Tottenham make a serious move for their Dutch forward.

Still, don't dismiss De Zerbi's enthusiasm here. Managers don't usually talk that warmly about a fallback option, which says something about how highly he rates Mudryk if he gets back to full sharpness.

Chelsea's motivation to get a deal done keeps building too. Moving Mudryk on would free up squad space and wages right as the deadline closes in. A structure without Brentford-style buy-priority demands would probably suit them just fine.

For Mudryk, this is about opportunity more than anything else. Two years on the sidelines have dented both his value and his leverage, so regular Premier League football is really his best route back into relevance.

Whoever wins this race, the clock is clearly doing the talking now. Deadline day is close, and nobody involved seems willing to wait around much longer.

Further reporting on this story is available through Football.London.

Mudryk's next chapter looks like it's coming very soon.