Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca says he and the club have full trust in Mykhailo Mudryk after he was found to have breached doping regulations.
The 23-year-old returned a failed drugs test – which are conducted regularly by the FA – and has been suspended by the club.
An investigation is set to be carried out to find out the source of Mudryk’s negative result.
The player himself says he has never knowingly taken performance-enhancing drugs.
Speaking on the matter, Maresca said: “We trust Mykhailo and we support Mykhailo and trust means that we believe Mykhailo, we trust Mykhailo and we support him.
“What Mykhailo said and what we said is that we trust him and support him.
🚨🔵 Maresca: “We all support Misha Mudryk”.
“The situation is a bit more clear. We have a statement from the club, who have already said what we need to say”.
“So there is not anything to add. All the players inside the training ground support and trust Misha”. pic.twitter.com/mCj36I0r81
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) December 18, 2024
“First of all, these kind of things not only happen to young players but players with experience.
“It is my duty since we started that I try and have a relationship with players quite close because I like it that way.
“With Mudryk it is exactly the same and I am here to help him in anything he needs. At this moment it is normal that he is going to need help from the club, from me and from his teammates and we are all there trying to support him.”
An innocent man
Mudryk has not seen many Premier League minutes this season, but has been used in cup competitions.
He would likely have started Chelsea’s Europa Conference League game against Shamrock Rovers on Thursday.
When asked if he believes Mudryk is innocent, he added: “We all believe that, then we’ll see.
“I think he will come back. The only thing is we don’t know when, that’s the only doubt we have at the moment. For sure he is going to come back.
“It’s not about Mykhailo, it’s about any player in the world that if this kind of thing happens then they need support.
“We support and trust Misha [Mudryk]”
Enzo Maresca on Mykhailo Mudryk’s suspension after an adverse finding in a routine urine test. pic.twitter.com/KtMfA8CA2s
— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) December 18, 2024
“No matter if they are 20 or 30 or English or Italian or Ukrainian – when these kind of things happen, I need support, you need support, they need support – we all need support.
“It is not about Mykhailo, his age or his country. When these kind of things happen, we all need support.
“He was improving a lot, especially in the last game. He has started to understand what position he has to stay in.
“At the beginning it was because of his skills he was moving and running a lot but in the last two or three games he was improving a lot and we were very happy with him. In terms of where he can be in one, two or three years. I don’t know.
“The talent we see on the training pitch is exactly the same as what you sometimes see during the game. With Mykhailo it is exactly the same feeling. In the training session, it is exactly the same as in the game.”
