Mudryk's Remarkable Return to Chelsea: A New Era Begins

Tosin Adarabioyo leant back, smiled and summed it up in one word.

“Misha is a freak.”

There was no malice in it, only admiration. After 20 months away from Chelsea’s first team, Mykhailo Mudryk stepped back onto the pitch on Wednesday night in Hong Kong, and to those who know him best, his sharpness was no shock at all.

Mudryk’s long road back

Mudryk’s cameo in the 1-0 defeat to Juventus at the Kai Tak Stadium was brief, late and utterly significant. It was his first appearance for the club since November 2024, coming just days after the FA confirmed a resolution had been reached over his anti-doping disciplinary case.

Xabi Alonso had been clear with him before kick-off: the plan was 10 to 15 minutes. No more. No drama. Just a first step.

Every Chelsea outfield player on the pitch at the time had been introduced in the second half, but one decision underlined how much this moment mattered in the dressing room. Nicolas Jackson had agreed beforehand he would be the one to give up his place so Mudryk could get on. No fuss, just a quiet gesture from one forward to another.

When Mudryk finally jogged onto the turf, the reaction inside Kai Tak was anything but quiet. More than 43,000 supporters rose, roared and welcomed back a player they had not seen in blue for almost two years. For someone who had only been back in full training for a matter of sessions, even a short run-out was a serious physical ask.

Not for Mudryk, says Tosin.

“His work rate is unbelievable”

“Misha is my guy,” the centre-back said afterwards. “I have kept in contact with him throughout and it is really nice to have him back. I am really happy for him.

“You can see he is just really happy to be around and back in the environment. It is obviously going to take him some time but we are all here to support him.”

The curiosity, naturally, is how a player stays in that kind of condition after such a long spell away from the team. Tosin barely needed the question.

“Misha is a freak. His work rate is unbelievable.

“There is no doubt he has been working hard throughout this whole time. I know he has been doing sessions away, I have seen him. I know the guys he has been working with so it's good.

“No, not at all,” he added when asked if Mudryk’s fitness had surprised him. “Like I just said I know Misha really well, his work rate is phenomenal, so I am not surprised at all.”

For Chelsea, that matters. A player who has lost almost two full seasons cannot be rushed, but he also cannot afford to drift. Mudryk’s return, however short, suggested there is a platform to build on.

From ‘Uncle Tosin’ to the new elders

While Mudryk battles to restart his Chelsea story, another quiet shift is happening inside the dressing room. Tosin, nicknamed “Uncle Tosin” by his teammates, is no longer the oldest outfield presence in the squad.

At 28, he had been the senior figure in a group built around youth and potential. That changed this summer with the arrivals of Danny Welbeck, 35, and Jordan Henderson, 36.

“No, thank God,” Tosin laughed when reminded he had been the ‘uncle’. “We have Welbeck now. I have known him for a long time just growing up in Manchester.”

Welbeck made his unofficial Chelsea debut in Hong Kong, starting up front and playing the opening 45 minutes before being replaced. For a team that has often lacked a seasoned, battle-tested striker, his presence offers something different.

“We have all seen that he scores goals,” Tosin said. “He is a striker and he is here to help. The way that he can help is by scoring goals and I am sure he will do that.”

The respect for Henderson is just as clear.

“Pure experience and at the same time, they are winners,” Tosin added. “They will bring that winning mentality to the club and hopefully we will continue that way.”

A new spine, an old hunger

One pre-season game in Hong Kong will not define Chelsea’s year. The defeat to Juventus will fade quickly. What will linger is the sight of Mudryk back in blue, Jackson stepping aside so he could feel the grass again, and two decorated veterans quietly taking their first steps into a young, restless squad.

A winger desperate to make up for lost time. A defender who never doubted him. A new layer of experience dropped into a team still finding its identity.

If Mudryk’s “freak” work rate really has kept him this close to peak condition after 20 months out, and if Welbeck and Henderson can inject the edge Tosin expects, Chelsea’s season may end up being shaped less by what happened in Hong Kong and more by who walked out there.