Like a pre-season for 18 months

Chelsea winger Mykhailo Mudryk has opened up on the period he was away from football after serving a suspension for testing positive for a banned substance.

The Ukrainian was recently cleared in his doping case after 20 months without competitive football. Just days after his ban was lifted, he joined Chelsea’s pre-season tour in Hong Kong and featured in each of the club’s last three friendly matches against Juventus, AC Milan, and Johor Darul Ta’zim, respectively.

Speaking to Chelseafc.com in an exclusive interview, Mudryk expressed his delight at being back on the training pitch with his teammates. When asked about his training routine while being away from competitive football, he said:

“I’d say it was like a pre-season for 18 months. So I’ve been training, I’ve been training hard. I didn’t give up and I just tried to work as hard as I could. I was working six days a week with proper recovery, with proper sleep schedule, food, everything. Everything was the same, just double sessions per day.

“It was to come back and to show myself again in the football world. That was my mission and I knew what I had to do for that. Only through hard work can you reach something.”

The Ukrainian was initially provisionally suspended in December 2024 and did not play a competitive match until April 2026, when he was handed a four-year ban after England’s Football Association (FA) found him guilty of doping.

In July 2026, his doping case was resolved with the FA after his appeal was upheld by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

Mudryk’s reintegration at Chelsea will take time – Xabi Alonso

While he welcomed Mudryk’s return to the team, new boss Xabi Alonso cautioned that the 25-year-old needs time to regain his full fitness after serving a lengthy suspension.

“We want him to feel part of a team because he has been training on his own for a long time,” Alonso said after Chelsea’s 2-1 pre-season defeat to Tottenham. “He has the support of everyone, from the club, from his team-mates and staff. For sure it will take time, but once he is with us, we will see how things develop. To have the Mudryk we had will take time, but now there is a change, things start moving. For him, it’s a massive change.”

While serving his suspension, Mudryk was unable to train at Chelsea’s training ground or work with the staff. Instead, he hired a private coach and goalkeepers and conducted training sessions at non-league side Uxbridge, according to the BBC.