Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca trusts Mykhailo Mudryk after doping charge

PHILADELPHIA – Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca said on June 19 that he still maintained trust in Mykhailo Mudryk, after the Ukrainian winger was charged by England’s Football Association (FA) with violating anti-doping rules.

But he also confirmed that the club were looking to strengthen in his position.

“Mischa is a Chelsea player. As long as he is a Chelsea player, I will trust all the Chelsea players,” Maresca told reporters in Philadelphia ahead of his team’s Club World Cup clash with Flamengo on June 20.

Mudryk has not played for Chelsea since Nov 28 following his provisional suspension by the FA for an “adverse finding in a routine urine test” in December.

He was reported to have had the prohibited performance-enhancing substance meldonium in his positive test and could face a potential ban of up to four years under FA rules.

Mudryk, who has denied intentional wrongdoing, is not with the Chelsea squad for the tournament in the United States and Maresca said he has had no contact with the player since the Uefa Conference League final win over Real Betis in Poland late in May.

“The last time I spoke with Mischa was in Poland and he was quite good,” he said.

“Since that day I have not spoken with him so I don’t know how he is now but for sure in the next days, in the next weeks, we are going to have contact with him.”

Mudryk was signed from Shakhtar Donetsk in January 2023 for €100 million but his time at Chelsea has been dogged by inconsistency.

He has scored just 10 goals in 73 appearances in all competitions for the Blues.

Maresca revealed that he is hoping to sign a new wide attacker before the start of the Premier League season.

“We had already one