Paul Merson backs Chelsea to unleash ‘extraordinary’ 22-year-old v Arsenal

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Paul Merson has backed Chelsea to unleash Mykhaylo Mudryk against Arsenal when the Blues host the Gunners in the Premier League on Saturday.

The Sky Sports pundit reckons that it’s a “gamble worth taking” for Mauricio Pochettino against Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal following his goal-scoring display for Ukraine last time out.

Writing on the Sky Sports website, Merson said: “Mykhaylo Mudryk is a name that comes up when these two teams meet because of the transfer saga to sign him.

“He’s a young kid who has come over from a country where there is a war going on.

“You have to take this into consideration when judging his football. He’ll have friends over in Ukraine and that will take its toll.

“However, you don’t get signed for the money he has if you aren’t a player.

“We have seen glimpses of it but now there needs to be consistency. We’ve seen probably fours out of 10 and then an eight, but what we need to see from him is sevens and eights consistently.

“He scored the other week against Fulham but was then out of the team against Burnley, which doesn’t help him. Suddenly, he was on the bench, but he probably just needs a run.

“He was also on the scoresheet for Ukraine in midweek which will further boost his confidence, and Pochettino may think unleashing him on Arsenal is a gamble worth taking.”

Bright future ahead of him

As will probably be the case for a while, any games involving Chelsea and Arsenal are likely to feature Mudryk as part of the build-up and narrative.

Last year, the 22-year-old had been dropping hints about the prospect of joining the Gunners and how he was going to make a move soon.

However, Arsenal fans were hit with a cruel twist as Chelsea muscled in and ended up signing Mudryk instead.

The Ukraine international hasn’t quite got going at Stamford Bridge, though he has shown glimpses of quality now and again.

This season, Mudryk has been in and out of the starting XI. He has begun four of the eight games he has played so far this term.

As Merson said, there are several things at play. He’s a young player in his first year in a new league and country, then you have the situation in his home country, and then you have Chelsea’s issues as well.

All these things will have played a part, but Mudryk is such an ‘extraordinary‘ talent that, with someone like Pochettino coaching him, he could become a superstar.