Mudryk Set for Spurs Debut as De Zerbi Calls for Normal Player Treatment
Mykhailo Mudryk is finally back. And this time, he arrives in north London with a point to prove and a coach who knows exactly where his ceiling sits.
Tottenham head coach Roberto De Zerbi has confirmed the winger is fit enough to feature this Saturday and could make his Spurs debut after almost two years in competitive exile.
“I don’t know how much time he needs to be available to start the game,” De Zerbi said at 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 searching for a spark under the Italian, it is a sizeable boost. Mudryk, now 25, has not played a competitive match since November 2024, his career abruptly halted by a doping suspension that dragged on and reshaped his reputation.
From suspension to second chance
His story since then has been messy, complicated, and largely lived in the shadows.
Late in 2024, Mudryk received a provisional ban after tests detected a low concentration of meldonium in his system. The substance, a heart medication, is banned because it can aid recovery and endurance. The fallout cost him almost two years of football, training alone while his prime years ticked by.
The case finally reached a conclusion in July, when WADA and the English FA reached an agreement that the levels found back in 2024 would not count as a positive test under current regulations. Overnight, the cloud lifted. Mudryk was free to return.
By then, the damage was clear. While others played, he worked on his own. No dressing room, no tactical drills, no rhythm. Just individual sessions, fitness maintenance, and the nagging question of whether the game would still be there for him when he came back.
Reunited with his ‘football father’
Now, the answer lies at Tottenham. And with De Zerbi.
Mudryk arrives in north London after a turbulent spell at Chelsea, where a huge price tag and inconsistent form turned him into a symbol of the club’s excess rather than its future. He had recently been involved with Xabi Alonso’s Chelsea squad during their pre-season tour, but the lack of competitive minutes remained the central issue.
At Spurs, the narrative shifts. This is a reunion.
De Zerbi was the coach who first unlocked Mudryk’s talent at Shakhtar Donetsk, the man the winger has described as a “football father”. The Italian knows the player’s chaos, his pace, his rawness. He also knows the emotional weight Mudryk carries, recalling their time together at the start of the conflict in Ukraine.
“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,” De Zerbi said, underlining that the ability has never been in doubt.
No special treatment
For all the sentiment, De Zerbi is determined not to wrap Mudryk in cotton wool or turn his return into a long-running saga.
He stressed that the winger will be handled like any other member of the squad, name‑checking Micky van de Ven as a reference point for that standard.
“Now I think he’s a normal player like (Micky) Van de Ven, like another player. If he deserves it, he will play or not,” De Zerbi said.
That line matters. It strips away the excuses. The past two years, the price tag, the controversy — all acknowledged, none decisive. From now on, selection will be about performance.
The right moment – and the right pressure
Still, De Zerbi knows the spotlight will not disappear. Mudryk has been talked about as a future Ballon d’Or contender, then as a transfer misfire, and now as a reclamation project.
“He has to feel this season, to live this season in the right way, not too much pressure,” the Spurs head coach added. “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 clear: the fee was not an accident. The talent that persuaded Chelsea to spend so heavily is still there, buried under rust and narrative. Tottenham are betting that De Zerbi is the one who can dig it back out.
On Saturday, it may only be 15, 20, maybe 30 minutes. But for Mudryk, after everything, that short burst of football could feel like the start of an entirely new career.
