Why De Zerbi Thinks He Can Unlock Tottenham’s Mykhailo Mudryk

Tottenham are hoping Roberto De Zerbi can revive Mykhailo Mudryk and unlock the talent that once made him one of European football’s most exciting prospects.

De Zerbi previously described Mudryk as a potential future Ballon d’Or winner. That assessment has resurfaced after the pair were reunited at Spurs on transfer deadline day, with footage from their time together at Brighton circulating once again.

The Italian coach also worked with Mudryk at Shakhtar Donetsk, giving him a detailed understanding of the 25-year-old Ukrainian winger. Mudryk has joined Tottenham on a season-long loan that includes a £75million option to buy.

De Zerbi knows the winger’s abilities inside out, from his explosive strengths and technical qualities to his limitations, character and approach to the game.

Yet Mudryk’s career has taken a deeply frustrating turn since he left Shakhtar.

His £89million transfer to Chelsea was already beginning to look like a costly failure when he was hit with a doping ban in November 2024.

Now, two years after his last Premier League start, De Zerbi has begun the difficult task of restoring Mudryk’s confidence and bringing his ability back to the surface. Tottenham hope that process can also address a significant problem in attack.

It may be a gamble, but Mudryk is far from the only Spurs player viewed as a potential solution in N17.

Tottenham are also waiting for Dejan Kulusevski to emerge from his injury ordeal and return to contention. Similar hopes surround James Maddison and Mohamed Kudus, two of the club’s most creative players, who barely featured in 2026.

Dominic Solanke is another key figure in that group. His previous campaign was disrupted by injuries, and further niggling, unexplained problems have limited his involvement in pre-season.

Spurs have also brought Savio and Omar Marmoush in from the Manchester City bench, hoping both can rediscover the form they displayed before moving to English football.

Mathys Tel remains an unknown quantity 20 months after arriving from Bayern Munich. However, he is only 21, still developing and regarded as a player with considerable potential.

In many ways, De Zerbi’s entire forward line has been assembled around the promise of what might come next.

Tottenham confirmed last night that Richarlison had been left out of their 25-man Premier League squad. The unsettled Brazil international is now seeking a move to Trabzonspor before the Turkish transfer deadline on Friday.

Richarlison finished as Tottenham’s leading scorer last season. Whatever his shortcomings, leaving him out further reduces an attacking group that has seen precious little competitive football in recent months.

Xavi Simons and Wilson Odobert are part of the squad but remain weeks away from fitness after suffering serious knee injuries earlier this year. The other eight attacking or creative players have made just 33 league appearances between them in 2026, scoring nine goals.

There is never any such thing as a guarantee, but it feels like De Zerbi is taking off into the new season on a wing and a prayer when it comes to goals and an attacking threat.

Goals have been a problem ever since Ange Postecoglou’s lust for thrills was replaced by Thomas Frank’s caution and defensive security which cost the team fluency and sparked an over-reliance on goals from set pieces.

Since Frank was sacked, the threat from set pieces has faded and Spurs sold or released many of their strongest players in the air. Cristian Romero, Kevin Danso, Radu Dragusin, Joao Palhinha and Randal Kolo Muani have all departed.

Brentford tormented Spurs in the air on the opening day of the season. Others will take note.

Spurs’ defensive upgrade made sense. It was complete in good time, early in the summer and injected much-needed leadership, experience and proven Premier League quality into the squad.

Sandro Tonali and Mateus Fernandes were expensive and are yet to find their best rhythm but should strengthen midfield.

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Questions linger about Toni Kinsky as the number one goalkeeper, but when Cody Gakpo and Iliman Ndiaye escaped Spurs, it left uncertainty swirling around firepower.

De Zerbi’s team are one of three Premier League teams without a goal from the opening two games.

Still, there’s always hope.

Marmoush was red hot for 18 months at Eintracht Frankfurt. Savio had that good year at Girona and dazzled on his debut against Charlton’s reserves in the Carabao Cup only to miss the Newcastle defeat because Spurs physios detected muscle fatigue.

This is always a concern for those who are not conditioned by the rigours of regular competitive football.

Nobody expects Kulusevski will return in the same sublime form he was in under Postecoglou two years ago. Nobody would be surprised if he encountered a physical setback or two as he returned.

The same is true for Maddison, who for various reasons has not started a game for even longer than Kulusevski. And for Kudus, who has not started a game since January.

Mudryk has not been injured but has been out for the longest of all.

The relationship at Shakhtar counts for something, but it is a very tall order to expect De Zerbi to bring him back to the boil instantly.

Much of the excitement about Mudryk’s potential resides in a six-week spell when he scored eight in 10 games for Shakhtar, a flurry that sparked a rush for his signature, led by Arsenal for a long time and won by Chelsea who gave him an eight-and-a-half-year contract.

De Zerbi had left Ukraine by this stage. Having arrived at Shakhtar at the start of the season which never returned from its winter break because of Russia invading in February 2022, the Italian quit and was out of work until Brighton appointed him in September 2022.

He did give Mudryk his big break however, and the young winger responded.

‘I know the value of Mudryk,’ said De Zerbi when Brighton boss and Premier League clubs were chasing the Shakhtar winger. ‘He can win the Ballon D’Or in future. He has the quality to become a star.’

Mudryk’s exhilarating speed is his key asset, and he delivered many of his most exciting Shakhtar performances in the surreal environment of wartime football played at neutral venues behind closed doors.

Upon joining Chelsea in January 2023, he went 10 months without a goal.

He flickered without convincing amid the managerial whirl at Stamford Bridge from Graham Potter to Frank Lampard to Mauricio Pochettino and Enzo Maresca, who was in charge when he returned the positive result for the banned substance meldonium during an out-of-competition test while training with Ukraine in October 2024.

None of them denied he had genuine talent. None though could translate it to the Premier League.

By the time of the ban, Mudryk was firmly on the outskirts of Maresca’s team. His last three Chelsea goals were scored in the early rounds of what became a procession to the Europa Conference League.

In the Premier League under Maresca, he had been reduced to the role of a late substitute whose extreme pace might cause problems for tired defenders when the game was stretched open and misshapen near the end.

So, there is more to rehabilitating Mudryk than simply making up for time missed, he must also reach a level that seemed beyond him before the ban.

If he has an impact at Spurs it will be for the first time in English football and it will one way or another benefit their bitter London rivals Chelsea.

Perhaps it is a sign of De Zerbi’s desperation that he thinks it is worth a shot.

At least, with no European competition there is the time to work on the training pitch, drilling shape and searching of his best formula and should not need to overload those who are so short of competitive football.

Fingers crossed Spurs fans.