Mudryk Faces Ankle Injury Setback as Spurs Struggle

Tottenham’s bid to jolt their season into life has taken an early hit, with Mykhailo Mudryk sidelined by what Roberto De Zerbi called a “stupid injury” in training.

The winger, on loan from Chelsea, hurt his ankle this week, British media reported, just days after finally making his Spurs debut. The 25-year-old is expected to be out until after the upcoming international break.

It is another jarring halt in a career that has already lurched from promise to pause and back again.

Loan lift cut short

Mudryk arrived at Spurs on transfer deadline day, a season-long loan that felt like a reset button for a player who never quite caught fire at Stamford Bridge. De Zerbi, who knows him well from their time together at Shakhtar Donetsk, wasted little time involving him, sending him on from the bench in last weekend’s goalless draw at Nottingham Forest.

He played just 15 minutes. It was enough to hint at sharpness, not enough to build rhythm. Now, that rhythm is gone again.

“(With) Mudryk, it was a stupid injury and we hope he can come back as soon as possible. For him and for us,” De Zerbi told reporters on Friday.

“For him because he suffered too much and for us because we lost an important player. He played 15 minutes in Nottingham, he played well, but it's in the normal process when one player doesn't play for a long time.”

The manager’s frustration was clear. So was his sympathy.

From ban to another setback

Mudryk’s road back to top-level football has already been complicated. After joining Chelsea in January 2023, he struggled to cement a regular starting place, despite flashes of the explosive pace and direct running that made him one of Europe’s most talked-about young wingers at Shakhtar.

His career then stalled dramatically in 2024 after an adverse analytical finding for meldonium in an anti-doping test. The Football Association initially imposed a four-year ban, a sanction that threatened to derail his prime years.

Mudryk appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. Following an agreement between the FA and the World Anti-Doping Agency, his suspension was reduced, clearing the path for his return and setting up this reunion with De Zerbi at Spurs.

This loan was supposed to be the fresh chapter. Instead, another pause.

Spurs’ stuttering start

Tottenham need him. That much is already obvious.

De Zerbi’s side have taken just one point from their opening three Premier League matches and sit 17th in the table. The attack has looked blunt, the tempo uneven, the early optimism around the new campaign quickly replaced by anxiety.

Mudryk, with 73 appearances, 10 goals and 11 assists for Chelsea behind him, was brought in to add incision and unpredictability in the final third. His ability to stretch defences and carry the ball at pace offered a different dimension to a side searching for spark.

Now De Zerbi must plan without him as Spurs host Everton later on Saturday, chasing not just their first league win of the season but a bit of belief.

Mudryk has already “suffered too much,” as his manager put it. Tottenham, three games into a troubled start, may soon feel the same way if results do not turn before he is ready to return.