Mudryk Set for Tottenham Debut as De Zerbi Plans Fresh Start

Mykhailo Mudryk is finally back. Tottenham head coach Roberto De Zerbi has confirmed the winger is fit to make his Spurs debut on Saturday, ending a near two-year exile from competitive football.

“I don’t know how much time he needs to be available to start the game,” De Zerbi said in his pre-match press conference. “One part of the game, I think he’s ready right now to play 20, 15, 30 minutes.”

For a Tottenham side still trying to catch fire under their new head coach, it is a significant boost. Mudryk has been training and travelling with Xabi Alonso’s Chelsea squad during pre-season, but he has not played a competitive match since November 2024. That gap is the one lingering concern for the Spurs staff as they work out how quickly to throw him into the Premier League storm.

From suspension to second chance

Mudryk’s career was derailed in late 2024 when he received a provisional suspension after a low concentration of meldonium was detected in his system. The substance, a heart medication, is banned because of its potential to aid recovery and endurance. The fallout cost the Ukrainian almost two full years of his career.

The case finally reached its conclusion in July. WADA reached an agreement with the English FA, ruling that the levels found in 2024 would not be treated as a positive test under current regulations. Overnight, the cloud lifted. Mudryk was cleared to return immediately.

The damage, though, had already been done. During the suspension he was barred from normal team environments, forced to keep himself in shape through individual work, away from the structure, patterns and tactical detail that shape elite players. He stayed fit, but he did it in isolation.

De Zerbi, who helped launch Mudryk’s rise at Shakhtar Donetsk, never lost faith.

“Now he’s a normal player”

The Italian is determined to strip away the drama and treat his former protégé like any other member of the squad.

“Now I think he’s a normal player like (Micky) Van de Ven, like another player,” De Zerbi said. “If he deserves it, he will play or not.”

That line matters. Tottenham have not signed a rehabilitation project; they have signed a player De Zerbi believes can immediately compete for minutes. The emotional history is there, but the message is clear: no guarantees, no special treatment.

Their bond was forged at Shakhtar, and tested during the early days of the conflict in Ukraine. De Zerbi referenced that shared experience as he spoke about Mudryk’s return, underlining how long he has believed in the winger’s ceiling.

“The last problem, the suspension, but by the end the potential was clear, is clear, and now his challenge is to respect all his qualities, because he’s a great player,” he said.

Escaping the Chelsea weight

Mudryk arrives in north London with baggage from across the capital. His move to Chelsea came with a huge fee and even bigger expectations, and he never truly settled under the revolving cast of coaches at Stamford Bridge.

Tottenham, and De Zerbi in particular, offer a reset. The coach who once unlocked him in Ukraine is now tasked with doing it again in the Premier League, this time under the glare of a fanbase desperate for a new attacking hero.

De Zerbi wants the noise turned down.

“He has to feel this season, to live this season in the right way, not too much pressure,” he said. “It is the right moment for him to show all people things because if Chelsea paid 100m four years ago – they bought a lot of big, big players, no? – they thought very well about the qualities of Mudryk.”

The message is pointed. The fee, the hype, the long suspension – all of it still points back to the same thing: the talent that convinced a superclub to spend big.

Now that talent belongs to Tottenham. On Saturday, even if it is only for 15 or 20 minutes, the Premier League will start to find out what is left – and what De Zerbi can rebuild.