Mykhailo Mudryk's Impressive Return to Chelsea

Tosin Adarabioyo did not reach for clichés. He reached for something stronger.

“Misha is a freak.”

For a player emerging from 20 months in competitive exile, Mykhailo Mudryk did not move like someone feeling his way back into football on a humid night in Hong Kong. He moved like a man who had been waiting, obsessively, for precisely this moment.

Mudryk’s long road back

Mudryk’s late cameo in Chelsea’s 1-0 defeat to Juventus at the Kai Tak Stadium was brief, but it carried a weight that went far beyond the scoreline. This was his first appearance for the club since November 2024, coming just days after the FA confirmed a resolution to his anti-doping disciplinary proceedings.

Xabi Alonso had been clear with him before kick-off: he would get the final 10 to 15 minutes. That promise shaped the night. Every substitution in the second half was made with that in mind. Those already on the pitch knew someone would have to make way.

Nicolas Jackson had already decided it would be him.

The forward agreed before the game to sacrifice his place so Mudryk could step into the noise. When the board went up and the Ukrainian sprinted onto the turf, more than 43,000 inside Kai Tak responded with a roar that sounded less like a pre-season friendly and more like a welcome-home ceremony.

For a player who had only just rejoined full training with Chelsea after nearly two years away from the group, even 10 minutes felt like a physical test. It did not surprise Tosin in the slightest.

“His work rate is unbelievable”

“Misha is my guy,” the centre-back said afterwards. “I have kept in contact with him throughout and it is really nice to have him back. I am really happy for him.

“You can see he is just really happy to be around and back in the environment. It is obviously going to take him some time but we are all here to support him.”

The support has not been sentimental. It has been built on what the squad already knew about Mudryk’s standards away from the cameras.

“Misha is a freak. His work rate is unbelievable,” Tosin explained. “There is no doubt he has been working hard throughout this whole time. I know he has been doing sessions away, I have seen him. I know the guys he has been working with so it's good.”

So when asked if he was surprised by the winger’s sharpness after such a long absence, the defender did not hesitate.

“No, not at all. Like I just said I know Misha really well, his work rate is phenomenal, so I am not surprised at all.”

The minutes were limited, the result forgettable. Yet Mudryk’s acceleration, his willingness to demand the ball, and the sheer intensity in his running hinted at why his return has been treated inside the camp as something closer to a new signing than a routine reintegration.

“Uncle Tosin” gets company

For all the focus on Mudryk, this Chelsea squad is changing shape in other ways. One of the quieter shifts is in the dressing-room hierarchy.

Tosin, 28, has carried the half-joking, half-serious tag of “Uncle Tosin” since arriving, the elder statesman in a group built around youth. That status has gone in a single summer.

Danny Welbeck, 35, and Jordan Henderson, 36, have arrived to tilt the age profile and inject something Chelsea have been accused of lacking in recent seasons: hardened, Premier League-winning experience.

“No, thank God,” Tosin laughed when reminded he is no longer the “uncle”. “We have Welbeck now. I have known him for a long time just growing up in Manchester.”

Welbeck’s unofficial debut came in Hong Kong, the striker leading the line for the opening 45 minutes before making way at the interval. It was a gentle introduction, but his role will not be.

“We have all seen that he scores goals. He is a striker and he is here to help,” Tosin said. “The way that he can help is by scoring goals and I am sure he will do that.”

Henderson, too, has been signed with purpose. Chelsea have not brought him in to make up the numbers. They want his scars, his standards, his voice.

Asked about the former Liverpool captain, Tosin was clear: “Pure experience and at the same time, they are winners. They will bring that winning mentality to the club and hopefully we will continue that way.”

Between Mudryk’s raw, almost obsessive drive and the calm, weathered presence of Welbeck and Henderson, Chelsea’s squad suddenly feels less like a collection of prospects and more like a dressing room with layers.

The question now is simple: can that mix of freakish work rate and proven know-how drag this team back to where it believes it belongs?